Species Delimitation and Evolutionary History of Tree Frogs in the Hyla chinensis Group (Hylidae, Amphibian)

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Peng Yan¹  Tao Pan¹  Xiaobing Wu¹  Izaz Ali¹  Jiatang Li²  Wenliang Zhou³  Guiyou Wu⁴  Baowei Zhang⁴  Xing Kang⁴ 

[1] Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of the Conservation and Exploitation of Biological Resources, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China;Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China;Key Lab of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;School of Life Sciences, Anhui University, Hefei, China;

关键词: Hyla chinensis group;    species delimitation;    phylogeny;    biogeography;    evolutionary history;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fevo.2020.00234

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Species are the cornerstone in many domains of biology research, which make accurate species delimitation critically important. In this study, the systematics and biogeography of the Hyla chinensis group were analyzed based on phylogeny, species delimitation, and ancestral area reconstruction methods. The phylogenetic results showed that six specific clusters existed in the H. chinensis group. Bayesian Phylogenetics and Phylogeography (BPP) analysis indicated that six distinct species exist due to the high probability values (>0.95), which were also supported by the Bayes factor (BF) analysis. The divergence time of the H. chinensis group was estimated to date back to 18.84 million years ago (Mya) in the early Miocene. Combining the results of ancestral area reconstruction, the H. chinensis group might have originated from Guangxi-Hainan, then spread eastwardly and reached Nanling Mountains, Wuyi Mountains, Huangshan Mountain, and Taiwan. In right-about colonization, it was gradually extended to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Sichuan Basin, Qinling Mountains, and Dabie Mountains. Considering the geological movement from early Miocene to Pliocene, the colonization pattern of the H. chinensis group may be closely related to the progressive uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and historical climate change. Our study provided evidence for species delimitation and speciation process within the H. chinensis group. Our study supported the hypothesis that the evolutionary divergence in this species group was a consequence of the progressive uplift of the QTP and environmental change.

【 授权许可】

Unknown