animals Article Impact of the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution and Anthropogenic Factors on the Dispersion of Asian Black-Spined Toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) Siti N. Othman 1 , Yi-Huey Chen 2 , Ming-Feng Chuang 1,3, Desiree Andersen 1 , Yikweon Jang 1 and Amaël Borzée 4,* 1 Department of Life Sciences and Division of EcoScience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea;
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[email protected] Received: 24 May 2020; Accepted: 1 July 2020; Published: 8 July 2020 Simple Summary: Three distinct lineages of Duttaphrynus melanostictus, the Asian black-spined toad, are present in Southeast Asia. However, divergence times, dispersion mechanisms and colonisation processes are still unknown. In the present study, molecular dating based on mitochondrial DNA sequences demonstrated that D. melanostictus expanded into Eastern Indomalaya following the Quaternary glaciation and colonised new landscapes during the Last Glacial Maximum. Subsequent to natural colonisation of landscapes, we found human-induced dispersal into regions such as in Taiwan, Southern Sundaic and Wallacea, temporally matching with prehistoric human settlements. We provide comprehensive dispersal pathways and mechanisms of D. melanostictus to the Eastern Indomalayan realm, thus solving the climate-driven question relevant to the species distribution in the Southeast Asia.