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Cryptic diversity in Lithobates warszewitschii (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae)

Cryer, J; Wynne, F; Price, S; Puschendorf, R; (2019) Cryptic diversity in Lithobates warszewitschii (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae). ZooKeys , 838 pp. 49-69. Green open access

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Abstract

Lithobates warzewitschii is a species of ranid frog distributed from southern Honduras to Panama. This species suffered severe population declines at higher elevations (above 500 m asl) from the 1980s to early 1990s, but there is more recent evidence of recovery in parts of its range. Here we advocate for the status of Lithobates warszewitschii as a candidate cryptic species complex based on sequence data from mitochondrial genes CO1 and 16S. Using concatenated phylogenies, nucleotide diversity (K2P-π), net between group mean distance (NBGMD) (πnet) and species delimitation methods, we further elucidate cryptic diversity within this species. All phylogenies display polyphyletic lineages within Costa Rica and Panama. At both loci, observed genetic polymorphism (K2P-π) is also high within and between geographic populations, surpassing proposed species threshold values for amphibians. Additionally, patterns of phylogeographic structure are complicated for this species, and do not appear to be explained by geographic barriers or isolation by distance. These preliminary findings suggest L. warszewitschii is a wide-ranging species complex. Therefore, we propose further investigation within its wider range, and recommend integrative taxonomic assessment is merited to assess species status.

Type: Article
Title: Cryptic diversity in Lithobates warszewitschii (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae)
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright James Cryer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10070984
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