Evolução das rãs andinas de Rio Hyloscirtus (Anura: Hylidae) : relações filogenéticas, revisão taxonômica e delimitação de espécies

Abstract

Understanding the evolutionary relationships has increased significantly in recent years for different groups of neotropical amphibians, mainly based on well-supported phylogenetic hypotheses with molecular and morphological evidence. Recently, new taxonomic classifications, patterns and processes of speciation, reinterpretation of the evolution of phenotypic traits and evidence of various taxa traditionally regarded as a single species, were inferred by phylogenetic advances. However, only recently the Andean frogs associated with streams have been recognized as a monophyletic unit and grouped in the genus Hyloscirtus. Although there some previous studies on the systematics of Hyloscirtus, the phylogenetic relationships among many of its species still remain unresolved. Therefore here I present five chapters that provide the most important and systematic revision and comprehensive phylogenetic analysis for 29 of the 34 species using a maximum of 6,859 base pairs for four mitochondrial genes and seven nuclear genes from 157 specimens, considering the entire geographical distribution of the genus in the Neotropical Andes and Central America. Using maximum parsimony criterion and implementation of reconstruction of dynamic homology, phylogenetic analysis corroborate the monophyly of Hyloscirtus and recovered as closely related to Aplastodiscus, Bokermannohyla and Hypsiboas. The evolution of some phenotypic characters by in the context of the most parsimonious topology obtained here, show that the evolutionary history is more complex than previously suspected. From revision of 1420 specimens of 136 localities, the results suggest a diversity of species previously unknown to Hyloscirtus of which at least 15 lines are candidates for new species, and nine are formally defined and described from morphology, bioacoustics and molecular evidence. Additionally a new taxonomic rearrangement of the genus is proposed to include a definition of four species groups. The phylogenetic relationships inferred and knowledge generated here for Hyloscirtus open a window for understanding the evolutionary history and diversity of Neotropical tree frog.