Download Free Morphology Systematics And Phylogenetic Relationships Among Frogs Of The Genus Atelopus Anura Bufonidae Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Morphology Systematics And Phylogenetic Relationships Among Frogs Of The Genus Atelopus Anura Bufonidae and write the review.

Biologists, some with specialties, and a paleontologist summarize research on selected topics relating to using a phylogenetic framework to understand how plants and animals, their traits, and interactions between species evolve. The eight studies are from the 1996 symposium Morphological Data in Phylogenetic Analysis: Recent Progress and Unresolved Problems, held in St. Louis, Missouri. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Cladistic analyses of morphological data support a monophyletic group for Polypedates but do not support a monophyletic group for Rhacophorus. Five groups of Rhacophorus are recognized:(1) Group I: R. appendiculatus; R. verrucosus; R. bisacculus; R. everetti; R. baliogaster and R. cavirostris. DIAGNOSIS: post cloacal region with tubercles and/or papillae; skin on dorsum with glandular warts; tip of fingers and toes round; webbing between fingers III-IV small; dermal ridge running along outer edge of fourth finger crenulated; presence of numerous small papillae on heel; dermal ridge running along outer edge of tarsus crenulated; and webbing on toes medium or large. (2) Group II: R. jarujini; R. lateralis; R. turpes; R. edentulus; R. monticola and R. poecilonotus. DIAGNOSIS: presence of two papillae on heel; inner metatarsal tubercle elongate; and webbing between toe I-II large or complete.(3) Group III: R. hoanglienensis; R. orlovi; R. margaritifer; R. gauni; R. bimaculatus; R. angulirostris; R. baluensis; R. calcaneus and R. pleurostictus. DIAGNOSIS: absence of vomerine ridge; dermal ridge along forearm smooth; absence of dermal ridge or flap running along outer edge of tarsus; webbing between fingers II-III small; and webbing between toe II-III complete.(4) Group IV: R. reinwardtii; R. nigropalmatus; R. malabaricus; R. exechopygus; R. prominanus; R. dulitensis; R. htunwini; R. kio; R. bipunctatus; R. rhodopus; R. annamensis; R. pardalis; R. harrissoni; R. fasciatus; R. rufipes and R. robinsoni. DIAGNOSIS: distance from tip of snout to nostril equal to distance from nostril to eyes; presence of dermal flap along forearm; webbing between fingers II-III almost complete or complete; webbing between fingers III-IV complete; presence of dermal flap running along outer edge of fourth finger; presence of ridge or flap on heel; webbing on toes complete; presence of supra-cloacal fold or flap; post cloacal region with ridge or flap. (5) Group V: R. dennysi; R. feae; R. maximus; R. schlegelii; R. dorsoviridis; R. viridis; R. moltrechti; R. arboreus; R. burmanus; R. arvalis; R. chenfui; R. taipeianus; R. owstoni; R. minimus; R. taronensis; R. duboisi; R. dugritei; and R. omeimontis. DIAGNOSIS: head shape in dorsal view sub-elliptical or semicircular; webbing on hand small or medium; webbing between fingers II-III medium; and snout shape in lateral view round or obtuse.(6) Group VI: Polypedates: P. nasutus; P. eques; P. otilophus; P. megacephalus; P. leucomystax; P. macrotis; P. maculatus; P. zed; P. colletti; P. mutus; and P. cruciger. DIAGNOSIS: presence or absence of co-ossified skin between eyes; webbing between toes I-II long; webbing between fingers III-IV rudimentary; and tympanum shape oval.Genera names available: Group I - Aquixalus; Groups II-V currently are members of genus Rhacophorus but cladistic analysis of morphological data show that groups are different based on several morphological characters; Group III - Leptomantis; Group IV - Rhacophorus.
Sri Lanka is home to a recently discovered, large endemic radiation of shrub frogs. I use a well-resolved molecular phylogeny (constructed using six nuclear and mitochondrial DNA fragments) of Sri Lankan shrub frogs to examine the evolutionary, systematic and biogeographic relationships of the group. My findings demonstrate that: (1) Sri Lanka is a global amphibian diversity hotspot; (2) Despite several ancient terrestrial connections between Sri Lanka and India, there has been little dispersal between the two landmasses, resulting in clade level endemicity in many faunal groups; (3) There are only two Rhacophorid genera in Sri Lanka (as opposed to the previously conceived four genera), one characterized by direct development ( Pseudophilautus) and the other by foam nesting (Polypedates ); (4) Pseudophilautus is highly speciose with nearly 100 species, of which about 85% are new to science (of which I describe eight as new species); (5) Many new species are montane forms that are threatened by impending climate change; (6) Sri Lankan and Indian Pseudophilautus are distinct from Southeast Asian Philautus , the genus in which they were previously placed; (7) A remarkable degree of extinctions of Pseudophilautus species (19 species, of which I describe two as new) has occurred; (8) Phylogenetic relationships among Rhacophorid genera indicate that direct-development has evolved twice within the family; (9) The Sri Lankan Pseudophilautus are characterized by two unique reproductive behaviors: nesting in excavations made in soil, and laying eggs on the underside of leaves; (10) Direct development in Pseudophilautus is similar to Eleutherodactylus in many ways, but also differs, suggesting that direct development can evolve in different ways; (11) The diversification of the major Rhacophorid lineages occurred after the late Cretaceous (KT) mass extinction (65 MYA); (12) The basal Rhacophorids are Southeast Asian in origin, and the extant Rhacophorid fauna of Sri Lanka and India seems to be later arrivals to the sub-continent; (13) The radiation of Pseudophilautus in Sri Lanka shows ecomorphological structure, with strong correlation between morphology, behavior and habitat use; (14) There are many instances of morphological and ecological convergence within the Sri Lankan radiation; (15) Species typically show a pattern of diversification across the three mountain massifs in Sri Lanka; (16) Pseudophilautus of Sri Lanka are highly threatened, and needs immediate conservation intervention to prevent further extinctions.
The known diversity of dart-poison frog species has grown from 70 in the 1960s to 247 at present, with no sign that the discovery of new species will wane in the foreseeable future. Although this growth in knowledge of the diversity of this group has been accompanied by detailed investigations of many aspects of the biology of dendrobatids, their phylogenetic relationships remain poorly understood. This study was designed to test hypotheses of dendrobatid diversification by combining new and prior genotypic and phenotypic evidence in a total evidence analysis. DNA sequences were sampled for five mitochondrial and six nuclear loci (approximately 6,100 base pairs [bp]; x̄[arithmetic mean] = 53,740 bp per terminal; total dataset composed of approximately 1.55 million bp), and 174 phenotypic characters were scored from adult and larval morphology, alkaloid profiles, and behavior. These data were combined with relevant published DNA sequences. Ingroup sampling targeted several previously unsampled species, including Aromobates nocturnus, which was hypothesized previously to be the sister of all other dendrobatids. Undescribed and problematic species were sampled from multiple localities when possible. The final dataset consisted of 414 terminals: 367 ingroup terminals of 156 species and 47 outgroup terminals of 46 species. Direct optimization parsimony analysis of the equally weighted evidence resulted in 25,872 optimal trees. Forty nodes collapse in the strict consensus, with all conflict restricted to conspecific terminals. Dendrobatids were recovered as monophyletic, and their sister group consisted of Crossodactylus, Hylodes, and Megaelosia, recognized herein as Hylodidae. Among outgroup taxa, Centrolenidae was found to be the sister group of all athesphatanurans except Hylidae, Leptodactyidae was polyphyletic, Thoropa was nested within Cycloramphidae, and Ceratophryinae was paraphyletic with respect to Telmatobiinae. Among dendrobatids, the monophyly and content of Mannophryne and Phyllobates were corroborated. Aromobates nocturnus and Colostethus saltuensis were found to be nested within Nephelobates, and Minyobates was paraphyletic and nested within Dendrobates. Colostethus was shown to be rampantly nonmonophyletic, with most species falling into two unrelated cis- and trans-Andean clades. A morphologically and behaviorally diverse clade of median lingual process-possessing species was discovered. In light of these findings and the growth in knowledge of the diversity of this large clade over the past 40 years, we propose a new, monophyletic taxonomy for dendrobatids, recognizing the inclusive clade as a superfamily (Dendrobatoidea) composed of two families (one of which is new), six subfamilies (three new), and 16 genera (four new). Although poisonous frogs did not form a monophyletic group, the three poisonous lineages are all confined to the revised family Dendrobatidae, in keeping with the traditional application of this name. We also propose changes to achieve a monophyletic higher-level taxonomy for the athesphatanuran outgroup taxa. Analysis of character evolution revealed multiple origins of phytotelm-breeding, parental provisioning of nutritive oocytes for larval consumption (larval oophagy), and endotrophy. Available evidence indicates that transport of tadpoles on the dorsum of parent nurse frogs--a dendrobatid synapomorphy--is carried out primitively by male nurse frogs, with three independent origins of female transport and five independent origins of biparental transport. Reproductive amplexus is optimally explained as having been lost in the most recent common ancestor of Dendrobatoidea, with cephalic amplexus arising independently three times.
Excerpt from Phylogenetic Relationships of Extant Pelobatoid Frogs (Anura, Pelobatoidea): Evidence From Adult Morphology Fig. 1. Some of the various hypotheses of anuran relationships that include pelobatoid taxa (boldface). About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.