1
|
Evans BJ, Gansauge MT, Stanley EL, Furman BLS, Cauret CMS, Ofori-Boateng C, Gvoždík V, Streicher JW, Greenbaum E, Tinsley RC, Meyer M, Blackburn DC. Xenopus fraseri: Mr. Fraser, where did your frog come from? PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220892. [PMID: 31509539 PMCID: PMC6738922 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A comprehensive, accurate, and revisable alpha taxonomy is crucial for biodiversity studies, but is challenging when data from reference specimens are difficult to collect or observe. However, recent technological advances can overcome some of these challenges. To illustrate this, we used modern approaches to tackle a centuries-old taxonomic enigma presented by Fraser’s Clawed Frog, Xenopus fraseri, including whether X. fraseri is different from other species, and if so, where it is situated geographically and phylogenetically. To facilitate these inferences, we used high-resolution techniques to examine morphological variation, and we generated and analyzed complete mitochondrial genome sequences from all Xenopus species, including >150-year-old type specimens. Our results demonstrate that X. fraseri is indeed distinct from other species, firmly place this species within a phylogenetic context, and identify its minimal geographic distribution in northern Ghana and northern Cameroon. These data also permit novel phylogenetic resolution into this intensively studied and biomedically important group. Xenopus fraseri was formerly thought to be a rainforest endemic placed alongside species in the amieti species group; in fact this species occurs in arid habitat on the borderlands of the Sahel, and is the smallest member of the muelleri species group. This study illustrates that the taxonomic enigma of Fraser’s frog was a combined consequence of sparse collection records, interspecies conservation and intraspecific polymorphism in external anatomy, and type specimens with unusual morphology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ben J. Evans
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Marie-Theres Gansauge
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Edward L. Stanley
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America
| | - Benjamin L. S. Furman
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- Department of Zoology, Beaty Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | - Václav Gvoždík
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | - Eli Greenbaum
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States of America
| | - Richard C. Tinsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz, Leipzig, Germany
| | - David C. Blackburn
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Evans BJ, Carter TF, Greenbaum E, Gvoždík V, Kelley DB, McLaughlin PJ, Pauwels OSG, Portik DM, Stanley EL, Tinsley RC, Tobias ML, Blackburn DC. Genetics, Morphology, Advertisement Calls, and Historical Records Distinguish Six New Polyploid Species of African Clawed Frog (Xenopus, Pipidae) from West and Central Africa. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0142823. [PMID: 26672747 PMCID: PMC4682732 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0142823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2015] [Accepted: 10/27/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
African clawed frogs, genus Xenopus, are extraordinary among vertebrates in the diversity of their polyploid species and the high number of independent polyploidization events that occurred during their diversification. Here we update current understanding of the evolutionary history of this group and describe six new species from west and central sub-Saharan Africa, including four tetraploids and two dodecaploids. We provide information on molecular variation, morphology, karyotypes, vocalizations, and estimated geographic ranges, which support the distinctiveness of these new species. We resurrect Xenopus calcaratus from synonymy of Xenopus tropicalis and refer populations from Bioko Island and coastal Cameroon (near Mt. Cameroon) to this species. To facilitate comparisons to the new species, we also provide comments on the type specimens, morphology, and distributions of X. epitropicalis, X. tropicalis, and X. fraseri. This includes significantly restricted application of the names X. fraseri and X. epitropicalis, the first of which we argue is known definitively only from type specimens and possibly one other specimen. Inferring the evolutionary histories of these new species allows refinement of species groups within Xenopus and leads to our recognition of two subgenera (Xenopus and Silurana) and three species groups within the subgenus Xenopus (amieti, laevis, and muelleri species groups).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ben J. Evans
- Department of Biology, Life Sciences Building Room 328 McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Timothy F. Carter
- Biomedical Sciences, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Eli Greenbaum
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, United States of America
| | - Václav Gvoždík
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Kvetna 8, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Darcy B. Kelley
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Patrick J. McLaughlin
- Department of Biology, Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Olivier S. G. Pauwels
- Département des Vertébrés Récents, Instítut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Daniel M. Portik
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America
| | - Edward L. Stanley
- California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Richard C. Tinsley
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | | | - David C. Blackburn
- California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|