1
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Sung Y, Lee W, Ng H, Crump ML, Karraker NE. Novel reproductive behavior in an Asian frog: sex‐reversed inguinal amplexus. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yik‐Hei Sung
- Science Unit Lingnan University Tuen Mun Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Wing‐Ho Lee
- Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences Department of Biology Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Ho‐Nam Ng
- Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences Department of Biology Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Martha L. Crump
- Department of Biology and the Ecology Center Utah State University Logan Utah84322USA
- Department of Biology Northern Arizona University Flagstaff Arizona86001USA
| | - Nancy E. Karraker
- Department of Natural Resources Science University of Rhode Island Kingston Rhode Island02881USA
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2
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Carvajal-Castro JD, López-Aguirre Y, Ospina-L AM, Santos JC, Rojas B, Vargas-Salinas F. Much more than a clasp: evolutionary patterns of amplexus diversity in anurans. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe evolution and diversification of animal reproductive modes have been pivotal questions in behavioural ecology. Amphibians present the highest diversity of reproductive modes among vertebrates, involving various behavioural, physiological and morphological traits. One such feature is the amplexus, which is the clasp or embrace of males on females during reproduction and is found almost universally in anurans. Hypotheses about the origin of amplexus are limited and have not been tested thoroughly, nor have they taken into account evolutionary relationships in most comparative studies. However, these considerations are crucial to an understanding of the evolution of reproductive modes. Here, using an evolutionary framework, we reconstruct the ancestral state of amplexus in 685 anuran species. We investigate whether the type of amplexus has a strong phylogenetic signal and test whether sexual size dimorphism could have influenced amplexus type or male performance while clasping females. Overall, we found evidence of ≥34 evolutionary transitions in amplexus type across anurans. We found that amplexus type exhibits a high phylogenetic signal and that amplexus type does not evolve in association with sexual size dimorphism. We discuss the implications of our findings for the diversity of amplexus types across anurans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan D Carvajal-Castro
- Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva and Bogotá DC, Colombia
- Grupo de Investigación en Evolución, Ecología y Conservación (EECO), Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia
| | - Yelenny López-Aguirre
- Grupo de Investigación en Evolución, Ecología y Conservación (EECO), Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia
| | - Ana María Ospina-L
- Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva and Bogotá DC, Colombia
- Grupo de Investigación en Evolución, Ecología y Conservación (EECO), Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia
| | - Juan C Santos
- Department of Biological Sciences, St. John’s University, Queens, NY, USA
| | - Bibiana Rojas
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Fernando Vargas-Salinas
- Grupo de Investigación en Evolución, Ecología y Conservación (EECO), Universidad del Quindío, Armenia, Colombia
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3
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Bossuyt F, Schulte LM, Maex M, Janssenswillen S, Novikova PY, Biju SD, Van de Peer Y, Matthijs S, Roelants K, Martel A, Van Bocxlaer I. Multiple Independent Recruitment of Sodefrin Precursor-Like Factors in Anuran Sexually Dimorphic Glands. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 36:1921-1930. [PMID: 31238339 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chemical signaling in animals often plays a central role in eliciting a variety of responses during reproductive interactions between males and females. One of the best-known vertebrate courtship pheromone systems is sodefrin precursor-like factors (SPFs), a family of two-domain three-finger proteins with a female-receptivity enhancing function, currently only known from salamanders. The oldest divergence between active components in a single salamander species dates back to the Late Paleozoic, indicating that these proteins potentially gained a pheromone function earlier in amphibian evolution. Here, we combined whole transcriptome sequencing, proteomics, histology, and molecular phylogenetics in a comparative approach to investigate SPF occurrence in male breeding glands across the evolutionary tree of anurans (frogs and toads). Our study shows that multiple families of both terrestrially and aquatically reproducing frogs have substantially increased expression levels of SPFs in male breeding glands. This suggests that multiple anuran lineages make use of SPFs to complement acoustic and visual sexual signaling during courtship. Comparative analyses show that anurans independently recruited these proteins each time the gland location on the male's body allowed efficient transmission of the secretion to the female's nares.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franky Bossuyt
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Lisa M Schulte
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.,Department of Wildlife-/Zoo-Animal-Biology and Systematics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Margo Maex
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sunita Janssenswillen
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Polina Yu Novikova
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - S D Biju
- Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, India
| | - Yves Van de Peer
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Center for Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Severine Matthijs
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kim Roelants
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - An Martel
- Wildlife Health Ghent, Department of Pathology, Bacteriology, and Avian Diseases, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Ines Van Bocxlaer
- Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
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4
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Joshi AM, Narayan EJ, Gramapurohit NP. Vocalisation and its association with androgens and corticosterone in a night frog (Nyctibatrachus humayuni) with unique breeding behaviour. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amruta M. Joshi
- Department of Zoology Savitribai Phule Pune University Pune India
| | - Edward J. Narayan
- School of Science and Health Western Sydney University Penrith New South Wales Australia
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5
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Modak N, Chunekar H, Padhye A. Life History of Western Ghats endemic and threatened Anuran – Matheran leaping frog, ( Indirana leithii) with notes on its feeding preferences. J NAT HIST 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2018.1488008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nikhil Modak
- Department of Biodiversity, MES’ Ababsaheb Garware College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Hrishikesh Chunekar
- Department of Zoology, PES’ Modern College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Institute of Natural History Education and Research (INHER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | - Anand Padhye
- Department of Zoology, MES’ Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Institute of Natural History Education and Research (INHER), Pune, Maharashtra, India
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6
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Luna MC, Mcdiarmid RW, Faivovich J. From erotic excrescences to pheromone shots: structure and diversity of nuptial pads in anurans. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Celeste Luna
- División Herpetología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ – CONICET, Ángel Gallardo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Roy W Mcdiarmid
- United States Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Julian Faivovich
- División Herpetología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ – CONICET, Ángel Gallardo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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7
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Joshi AM, Narayan EJ, Gramapurohit NP. Interrelationship among annual cycles of sex steroids, corticosterone and body condition in Nyctibatrachus humayuni. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2018; 260:151-160. [PMID: 29339182 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Synergism between extrinsic and intrinsic factors is crucial for the seasonality of reproduction. Environmental factors such as photoperiod and temperature activate the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis leading to the secretion of steroid hormones that are crucial for reproduction. Sex steroids are not only essential for the maturation of gonads, but also for development of secondary sexual characters in males and reproductive behaviour of both the sexes. In the present study, we quantified the urinary testosterone (UTM) and corticosterone (UCM) metabolites in males and urinary estradiol metabolites (UEM) and UCM in females of Nyctibatrachus humayuni for two consecutive years to determine annual and seasonal variation in the levels of sex steroids, corticosterone and body condition index (BCI). The results show that sex steroids were highest during the breeding season and lowest during the non-breeding season in both the sexes. An increase in UTM and UEM was observed in males and females respectively during the breeding season. Testicular histology showed the presence of all stages of spermatogenesis throughout the year indicating that spermatogenesis is potentially continuous. Ovarian histology showed the presence of vitellogenic follicles only during the breeding season indicating that oogenesis is strictly seasonal. In males, UCM levels were highest during the breeding season, while in females their levels were highest just prior to the breeding season. In males, BCI was highest during the pre-breeding season, declined during the breeding season to increase again during the post-breeding season. In females, BCI was comparable throughout the year. In males, UTM levels were positively correlated with UCM levels but negatively correlated with BCI. Interestingly, UEM, UCM and BCI were not correlated in females. These results indicate that N. humayuni exhibits an associated pattern of reproduction. Quantification of urinary progesterone metabolites (UPM) during the breeding season showed UPM levels were higher in post-spawning females, suggesting the significance of progesterone in ovulation. Further, non-invasive enzyme immunoassay has been successfully standardized in N. humayuni for the quantification of urinary metabolites of steroid hormones.
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Affiliation(s)
- A M Joshi
- Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India
| | - E J Narayan
- School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - N P Gramapurohit
- Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India.
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8
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Shankar G, Uppangala S, Adiga SK, Willard B, Sagar BKC, Titus RSK, Marathe GK. Proteinaceous sperm motility inhibitory factor from the female Indian garden lizard Calotes versicolor. Reprod Fertil Dev 2017; 30:744-751. [PMID: 29136399 DOI: 10.1071/rd17292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2017] [Accepted: 09/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Female sperm storage is an intriguing adaptation exhibited by a wide array of both vertebrates and invertebrates. The mechanisms underlying female sperm storage have remained elusive. Using the Indian garden lizard Calotes versicolor as a model organism, we investigated the role of low and high molecular weight factors in this phenomenon. Previously, we demonstrated three distinct phases of the reproductive cycle in this animal with live, motile spermatozoa recovered from the uterovaginal region during the reproductive phase. In the present study, we analysed the uterovaginal contents using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and identified an abundant protein band corresponding to ~55 kDa regardless of the phase of the reproductive cycle. Analysis of the purified protein by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry suggested a unique protein without any homology to the National Center for Biotechnology Information database. Exogenous addition of this protein to washed spermatozoa derived from the epididymis reversibly inhibited sperm motility in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, suggesting it plays a key role in sperm storage. These studies are likely to offer new avenues to unravel the secrets of female sperm storage seen across the animal taxa and may have novel applications not only in reproductive biology, but also in general cell storage and preserving endangered animal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goutham Shankar
- Department of Studies in Biochemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysuru 570006, Karnataka, India
| | - Shubhashree Uppangala
- Division of Clinical Embryology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
| | - Satish K Adiga
- Division of Clinical Embryology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Manipal 576104, Karnataka, India
| | - Belinda Willard
- Research Core Services, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
| | - Bhadravathi K C Sagar
- Department of Neuropathology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Institute of National Importance), Bengaluru 560029, Karnataka, India
| | - Ruth S K Titus
- Department of Zoology, St. Philomena's College, Bannimantap, Mysuru 570015, Karnataka, India
| | - Gopal K Marathe
- Department of Studies in Biochemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysuru 570006, Karnataka, India
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9
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Ospina-L. AM, Rios-Soto JA, Vargas-Salinas F. Size, Endurance, or Parental Care Performance? Male–Male Competition, Female Choice, and Non-Random Mating Pattern in the Glassfrog Centrolene savagei. COPEIA 2017. [DOI: 10.1643/ce-17-591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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10
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Joshi AM, Narayan EJ, Gramapurohit NP. Interrelationship among steroid hormones, energetics and vocalisation in the Bombay night frog (Nyctibatrachus humayuni). Gen Comp Endocrinol 2017; 246:142-149. [PMID: 27940042 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2016] [Revised: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In vertebrates, the increase in plasma androgens and corticosteroids is essential for the expression of reproductive behaviour. In male anurans, the interaction between hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal axes plays a pivotal role in calling behaviour and energy mobilisation through the secretion of testosterone and corticosterone respectively. To explain the association among body condition, testosterone, corticosterone and calling behaviour the energetic-hormone-vocalisation (EHV) model has been proposed. The model predicts that with continued participation in chorus activity within and across nights, levels of circulating androgens, corticosterone and vocal effort tend to increase and should be positively correlated in calling males. Consequently, decreasing energy reserves should be inversely correlated with corticosterone level in calling males. Depleted energy reserves lead to the peaking of circulating corticosterone, which suppresses androgen production and calling behaviour. In the present study, we used Nyctibatrachus humayuni with unique reproductive behaviour to test the model by quantifying calling behaviour and urinary metabolites of testosterone and corticosterone. We also computed the body condition index (BCI) to assess the association among energetics, levels of testosterone, corticosterone and calling behaviour. The results show that calling males had higher levels of urinary testosterone metabolites (UTM) than non-calling males indicating the importance of testosterone in controlling the calling behaviour. Surprisingly, urinary corticosterone metabolite (UCM) levels were comparable between calling and non-calling males. Further, calling males had higher body condition estimates than non-calling males. The vocal effort was neither associated with UTM, UCM nor BCI. However, a positive association was observed between UTM and UCM levels in calling males indicating the requirement of higher energy for advertisement. Analysis of UTM and UCM levels throughout the breeding season revealed that breeding basal of UTM was significantly higher than that of UCM. Interestingly, UCM levels were maintained at a lower threshold during the breeding season. These observations are in line with some of the predictions of EHV model.
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Affiliation(s)
- A M Joshi
- Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India
| | - E J Narayan
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Science, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - N P Gramapurohit
- Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411007, India.
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11
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Zhang F, Zhao J, Feng AS. Vocalizations of female frogs contain nonlinear characteristics and individual signatures. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174815. [PMID: 28358859 PMCID: PMC5373630 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2016] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Anuran vocalization is sexually dimorphic, with males doing the bulk of vocalizing. Female vocalization is rare and has been observed in a handful of species, including the concave-eared torrent frog (Odorrana tormota). Females O. tormota have been reported to emit moderate-level calls to attract males. In contrast to males, female's vocal signals show no evidence of nonlinear phenomena (NLP). However, with females emitting calls so infrequently that this conclusion must be considered tentative in light of the limited supporting data. The present study was undertaken to test the hypotheses that their vocalizations: 1. may not be purely linear, 2. may contain individual signatures, similar to their male counterparts. We recorded 671 calls from six captive gravid females and found that their vocalizations are as complex as male calls, with numerous calls exhibiting complex upward/downward frequency modulations, and 39% of female calls containing at least one component of the NLP, i.e., subharmonics, deterministic chaos, frequency jump, or biphonation. Furthermore, females in captivity tend to call in bouts throughout the day and night, and the call rate varies hourly with a maximum of >10 calls per minute matching the maximum call rate in males. Similar to males, female vocalizations carry individual signatures, and all sound parameters analyzed differ significantly between individuals. This represents the first report ever showing that vocalizations of female anurans: 1. contain NLP, 2. carry individual signatures. Presence of signatures in both the male and female vocalizations opens up the possibility for males (and females) to distinguish individual frogs in both sexes acoustically, and thus their sound communication ability may be more advanced than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Juan Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Albert S. Feng
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology & Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States of America
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12
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Garg S, Suyesh R, Sukesan S, Biju SD. Seven new species of Night Frogs (Anura, Nyctibatrachidae) from the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot of India, with remarkably high diversity of diminutive forms. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3007. [PMID: 28243532 PMCID: PMC5322763 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The Night Frog genus Nyctibatrachus (Family Nyctibatrachidae) represents an endemic anuran lineage of the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot, India. Until now, it included 28 recognised species, of which more than half were described recently over the last five years. Our amphibian explorations have further revealed the presence of undescribed species of Nights Frogs in the southern Western Ghats. Based on integrated molecular, morphological and bioacoustic evidence, seven new species are formally described here as Nyctibatrachus athirappillyensis sp. nov., Nyctibatrachus manalari sp. nov., Nyctibatrachus pulivijayani sp. nov., Nyctibatrachus radcliffei sp. nov., Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei sp. nov., Nyctibatrachus sabarimalai sp. nov. and Nyctibatrachus webilla sp. nov., thereby bringing the total number of valid Nyctibatrachus species to 35 and increasing the former diversity estimates by a quarter. Detailed morphological descriptions, comparisons with other members of the genus, natural history notes, and genetic relationships inferred from phylogenetic analyses of a mitochondrial dataset are presented for all the new species. Additionally, characteristics of male advertisement calls are described for four new and three previously known species. Among the new species, six are currently known to be geographically restricted to low and mid elevation regions south of Palghat gap in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and one is probably endemic to high-elevation mountain streams slightly northward of the gap in Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, four new species are also among the smallest known Indian frogs. Hence, our discovery of several new species, particularly of easily overlooked miniaturized forms, reiterates that the known amphibian diversity of the Western Ghats of India still remains underestimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonali Garg
- Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi , Delhi , India
| | - Robin Suyesh
- Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi , Delhi , India
| | - Sandeep Sukesan
- Kerala Forest Department, Periyar Tiger Reserve , Kerala , India
| | - S D Biju
- Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi , Delhi , India
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