Phylogenetic relationships of the Boana pulchella Group (Anura: Hylidae)

FAIVOVICH, JULIAN; D.P. PINHEIRO, PAULO; LYRA, MARIANA L.; PEREYRA, MARTÍN O.; BALDO, DIEGO; MUÑOZ, ARTURO; REICHLE, STEFFEN; BRANDÃO, REUBER A.; GIARETTA, ARIOVALDO A.; C. THOMÉ, MARIA TEREZA; CHAPARRO, JUAN C.; BAÊTA, DÉLIO; LIBARDI WIDHOLZER, RONALDO; BALDO, JORGE; LEHR, EDGAR; WHEELER, WARD C.; C. A. GARCIA, PAULO; HADDAD, CÉLIO F.B.

MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION

ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

Año: 2021 vol. 155 p. 1 - 18

1055-7903

In this paper we present a phylogenetic analysis of the treefrogs of the Boana pulchella Group with the goals of (1)providing a rigorous test of its monophyly; (2) providing a test of relationships supported in previous studies; and(3) exploring the relationships of the several species not included in previous analyses. The analysesincluded>300 specimens of 37 of the 38 species currently included in the group, plus 36 outgroups, exemplars ofthe diversity of Boana and the other genera of the hylid tribe Cophomantini. The dataset included eight mitochondrialgenes (12S, 16S, CytB, COI, ND1, tRNAIle, tRNALeu, and tRNAVal) and five nuclear genes (RHO, TYR,RAG-1, CXCR4, SIAH1). The phylogenetic analyses recover the monophyly of the B. pulchella Group with lowersupport than previous studies, as a result of the inclusion of the B. claresignata Group, which is recovered as itssister taxon. Within the B. pulchella Group, the inclusion of almost all species of the group had little impact onprevious notions of its phylogeny, except for the rejection of the hypothesized B. polytaenia Clade (B. goiana andB. phaeopleura are nested in the clade here called the B. prasina Clade), which is redefined. Phylogenetic supportis strong for five major clades, which collectively include all but three of the species sampled: the B. balzani Clade(B. aguilari, B. balzani, B. gladiator, B. melanopleura, B. palaestes), the redefined B. polytaenia Clade (B. botumirim,B. buriti, B. cipoensis, B. jaguariaivensis, B. leptolineata, B. polytaenia, B. stenocephala, and two undescribed species),the B. prasina Clade (B. bischoffi, B. caingua, B. cordobae, B. goiana, B. guentheri, B. marginata, B. phaeopleura, B. prasina, B. pulchella, and one undescribed species), the B. riojana Clade (B. callipleura, B. marianitae, B. riojana),and the B. semiguttata Clade (B. caipora, B. curupi, B. joaquini, B. poaju, B. semiguttata, B. stellae, and two undescribedspecies). The monophyly of the B. prasina + B. riojana Clades, and that of the B. polytaenia +B. semiguttata Clades are well-supported. The relationships among these two clades, the B. balzani Clade, B. ericae+ B. freicanecae, and B. cambui (representing the deepest phylogenetic splits within the B. pulchella Group) arerecovered with weak support. We discuss the phenotypic evidence supporting the monophyly of the B. pulchellaGroup, and the taxonomy of several species, identifying three new synonyms of Boana polytaenia, one newsynonym of Boana goiana, and one new synonym of B. riojana.