Open AccessAn integrative approach to reveal speciation and species richness in the genus Diasporus (Amphibia: Anura: Eleutherodactylidae) in eastern Panama
Author(s) -
Batista Abel,
Köhler Gunther,
Mebert Konrad,
Hertz Andreas,
Veselý Milan
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
zoological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1096-3642
pISSN - 0024-4082
DOI - 10.1111/zoj.12411
Subject(s) - panama , allopatric speciation , biology , phylogeography , vicariance , ecology , genus , species complex , species richness , endemism , zoology , evolutionary biology , genetic algorithm , phylogenetics , phylogenetic tree , population , biochemistry , demography , sociology , gene
We have applied an integrative taxonomic approach, including bioacoustics, ecology, morphology, and molecular genetics (barcoding and phylogeography), to explore species richness in the genus Diasporus in eastern Panama, from where only Diasporus quidditus (Lynch, 2001) was previously known. During fieldwork in eastern Panama in 2011 and 2012 we found six additional species, four of which we are describing here as new to science, plus two species that are new for this region. We have evaluated the presence of Diasporus diastema (Cope, 1875) in eastern Panama by comparing morphological, genetic, and bioacoustic characters of specimens from near the type locality in central Panama with specimens from eastern Panama. We further describe and compare male advertisement calls of most Diasporus species. The phylogeographic analysis suggests the allopatric speciation of Diasporus species in eastern Panama following the completion of the Panamanian isthmus in the middle Miocene. Subsequent geological events concur with the vicariant evolution of different lineages in situ , suggesting eastern Panama to be a centre of endemism for this group of frogs. We present an integrative analysis of the species from eastern Panama and include an identification key for all species of the genus.