underestimation of species richness in neotropical frogs revealed by mtdna analyses低估新热带区的青蛙物种丰富度的揭示了mtdna分析.pdfVIP

Underestimation of Species Richness in Neotropical Frogs Revealed by mtDNA Analyses 1,2 ´ 2 3 4 5 1 Antoine Fouquet *, Andre Gilles , Miguel Vences , Christian Marty , Michel Blanc , Neil J. Gemmell 1 Molecular Ecology Laboratory, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2 EA 3781 EGEE Evolution ´ Genome Environment, Universite de Provence, Centre St Charles, Marseille, France, 3 Division of Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Institute, Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, 4 Impasse Jean Galot, Montjoly, Guyane Franc¸aise, 5 Pointe Maripa, RN2/PK35, Roura, French Guiana Background. Amphibians are rapidly vanishing. At the same time, it is most likely that the number of amphibian species is highly underestimated. Recent DNA barcoding work has attempted to define a threshold between intra- and inter-specific genetic distances to help identify candidate species. In groups with high extinction rates and poorly known species boundaries, like amphibians, such tools may provide a way to rapidly evaluate species richness. Methodology. Here we analyse published and new 16S rDNA sequences from 60 frog species of Amazonia-Guianas to obtain a minimum estimate of the number of undescribed species in this region. We combined isolation by distance, phylogenetic analyses, and comparison of molecular distances to evaluate threshold values for the identification of candidate species among these frogs. Principal Findings. In most cases, geographically distant populations belong to genetically highly distinct lineages that could be considered as candidate new species. This was not universal am