DOCSLIB.ORG

Tadpoles of Three Western African Frog Genera

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tadpoles of Three Western African Frog Genera ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Zoosystematics and Evolution Jahr/Year: 2019 Band/Volume: 95 Autor(en)/Author(s): Griesbaum Frederic, Hirschfeld Mareike, Barej Michael F., Schmitz Andreas, Rohrmoser Mariam, Dahmen Matthias, Mühlberger Fabian, Liedtke H. Christoph, Gonwouo Nono L., Doumbia Joseph, Rödel Mark-Oliver Artikel/Article: Tadpoles of three western African frog genera: Astylosternus Werner, 1898, Nyctibates Boulenger, 1904, and Scotobleps Boulenger, 1900 (Amphibia, Anura, Arthroleptidae) 133-160 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC-BY); original download https://pensoft.net/journals Zoosyst. Evol. 95 (1) 2019, 133–160 | DOI 10.3897/zse.95.32793 Tadpoles of three western African frog genera: Astylosternus Werner, 1898, Nyctibates Boulenger, 1904, and Scotobleps Boulenger, 1900 (Amphibia, Anura, Arthroleptidae) GenBank Frederic Griesbaum1, Mareike Hirschfeld2, Michael F. Barej1, Andreas Schmitz2, Mariam Rohrmoser1, Matthias Dahmen1, Fabian Mühlberger1, H. Christoph Liedtke3, Nono L. Gonwouo4, Joseph Doumbia5, Mark-Oliver Rödel1 1 Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany 2 Natural History Museum of Geneva, UREC-Herpetology & Ichthyology, Route de Malagnou 1, 1208 Genève, Switzerland 3 Ecology, Evolution and Developmental Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), 41092 Sevilla, Spain 4 Cameroon Herpetology – Conservation Biology Foundation (CAMHERP-CBF), PO Box 8218, Yaoundé, Cameroon 5 ONG EnviSud Guinée, Quartier Kipé T2, Commune de Ratoma, 030 BP 558 Conakry, République de Guinée http://zoobank.org/3447C059-0FE0-482F-81D0-9F91BC1ED7EC Corresponding author: Mark-Oliver Rödel ([email protected]) Abstract Received 2 January 2019 Accepted 11 March 2019 Herein, we describe the tadpoles of six Astylosternus species, A. fallax, A. cf. fallax, A. Published 5 April 2019 laurenti, A. montanus, A. perreti, A. ranoides, and Scotobleps gabonicus, and redescribe the tadpoles of A. batesi, A. diadematus, A. laticephalus, A. occidentalis, A. rheophilus, Academic editor: and Nyctibates corrugatus. All Astylosternus tadpoles are adapted to torrent currents and Johannes Penner share a long, oval body, slightly flattened in lateral view, with very long muscular tails with narrow fins. The jaws are massive, serrated, and often show a tooth-like medial pro- Key Words jection (fang) in the upper jaw. Body proportions of Astylosternus tadpoles are extremely similar. The best characters to distinguish species might be life coloration and potentially Barcoding the shape of labial papillae. The tadpole of Scotobleps gabonicus is similar to Astyloster- larval stages nus and differs only slightly by a narrower body with a shorter and rounder head. The Lower Guinea forest upper jaw of Scotobleps carries two or three lateral fangs instead of one medial one. The rainforest tadpole of Nyctibates corrugatus is easily distinguishable from the other two genera on Upper Guinea forest the basis of their very long, eel-shaped body and tail and the bluish-black color. western Africa Introduction lenger, 1900 is restricted to western and central Africa and has stream-dwelling tadpoles with special morpho- The anuran family Arthroleptidae comprises eight gen- logical characteristics like an eel-shaped body and an era, all being endemic to sub-Saharan Africa (Frost elongated spiraculum (Hirschfeld et al. 2012). The genus 2018). The species-rich genera, Arthroleptis Smith, 1849 Leptodactylodon Andersson, 1903, is restricted to the and Leptopelis Günther, 1859, are widespread and oc- western part of central Africa. The tadpoles are likewise cur in forest and open habitats (Blackburn 2008; Schiøtz stream dwellers, but presumably live in the interstitial 1999). Whereas all Arthroleptis seem to reproduce by ter- spaces between pebbles and have special funnel mouths restrial, direct development (Guibé and Lamotte 1958a; (Mapouyat et al. 2014). The tadpoles of the Hairy Frog, Lamotte and Perret 1963; Wager 1986; Schweiger et Trichobatrachus Boulenger, 1900, live in torrent, moun- al. 2017), Leptopelis deposit their clutches in soil, from tainous streams from eastern Nigeria, south to northern where the hatched, long and slender, exotrophic tadpoles Angola (Ernst et al. 2014). They are comparatively short move into lentic or lotic waters (Rödel 2000; Channing and robust with a huge oral sucker and numerous rows 2008; Barej et al. 2015). The genus Cardioglossa Bou- of keratodonts (Mertens 1938; Channing et al. 2012). Copyright Frederic Griesbaum et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC-BY); original download https://pensoft.net/journals 134 Frederic Griesbaum et al.:Tadpoles of three western African frog genera Two of the three remaining genera, Astylosternus Werner, (horizontal nostril diameter), IOD (interorbital distance), 1898 and Nyctibates Boulenger, 1904, have large, long IND (inter-nasal distance), SN (nostril-snout distance), and very muscular stream-dwelling tadpoles, as far as is EN (eye-nostril distance), ES (eye-snout distance), MW known (Amiet 1971; Channing et al. 2012). The tadpole (mouth width), SP (spiracle length) and SSD (snout-spira- of Scotobleps Boulenger, 1900, a monotypic genus rang- cle distance). Based on these measures the following pro- ing from south-eastern Nigeria to Gabon and the Repub- portions were calculated: BL/TL, BH/BL, BW/BL, BH/ lic of the Congo (Portik et al. 2017) is unknown, as are MTH, TMW/BW, TMH/MTH, VFH/DFH, IND/IOD, ED/ the tadpoles of various Astylosternus species. BL. All measurements are provided in Appendix 1. During the last 15 years we collected numerous tad- In the text, measurements or ratios are usually summa- poles of morphologically similar, torrenticolous arth- rized (for N ≥ 3) and given as: mean ± standard deviation roleptid tadpoles, apparently belonging to 10 species of and range (min–max). As we tried to predominately use Astylosternus, Nyctibates corrugatus, and Scotobleps genotyped specimens for the descriptions and the tail tips gabonicus. We present re-descriptions of tadpoles of six were missing in most of them (see above), the total length species (A. batesi, A. diadematus, A. laticephalus, A. oc- was either determined in comparison with alternative cidentalis, A. rheophilus, and N. corrugatus) and new specimens of the same series and developmental stage tadpole descriptions for six additional species, amongst or estimated based on the usual tail shape of the group. them the first from the genusScotobleps . The mouthpart formulae are in accordance with Dubois (1995). In addition, the number, form and arrangement of the labial papillae were accessed and described. We Material and methods further checked for a lateral line system. As all tadpoles proved to possess such organs in an identical arrange- Collection, preservation, deposition and barcodes ment, we excluded it from the species-specific tadpole descriptions and instead present a summary description Tadpoles were collected with dip nets and anesthetized at the end of the result section. The terminology of lateral in chlorobutanol solutions before being either preserved lines follows Escher (1925). The staging of tadpoles was in formalin (5–10%) or ethanol (75%). All were finally according to Gosner (1960). Whenever possible we tried stored in 75% ethanol. Prior to preservation tail tips of rep- to choose tadpoles of Gosner stages 25–30 for descrip- resentative specimens were preserved separately in 96% tions. Descriptions of life coloration are based on photos ethanol for genetic investigations. All tadpole vouchers taken in the field. and tissue samples are deposited at the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (ZMB; see descriptions). Illustrations For comparisons we examined further adult frogs and cor- Photos of entire tadpoles were taken with a Canon EOS responding sequences from the collections of Natural His- 50D digital camera and a 50 mm 1:2.5 lens. Mouth- tory Museum of Geneva (MHNG; Geneva, Switzerland) part pictures were taken with a stacking camera (Leica and the Zoological Research Museum A. Koenig (ZFMK; DFC490) on a Leica Z16 APO A microscope. Single ex- Bonn, Germany). Tadpoles were assigned to species by posures were combined using the Automontage® soft- DNA-barcoding, using up to 558 bp of the mitochondri- ware v. 5.03.0061 (Syncroscopy). All pictures were edit- al 16S rRNA gene; for exact laboratory procedures see ed with Adobe Photoshop v. 18.1.0. Schematic sketches Mapouyat et al. (2014) and Barej et al. (2015). All se- of the keratodont formulae are usually based on several quences of tadpoles and adults have been produced for this individuals of the respective species. study and deposited at GenBank (for accession numbers see tadpole descriptions). Comparisons between sequenc- Analysis of morphological differences es were carried out using BioEdit 7.0.9.0 (Hall 1999). To test, if and how the tadpoles of the different species Character assessment can be distinguishable, we plotted indices of our various measures against each other and ran a Principle Compo- All measurements were taken by FG and MR. Measure- nent Analysis
Load more

Recommended publications
  • What Is Driving Declines of Montane Endemic Amphibians? New Insights from Mount Bamboutos, Cameroon
    What is driving declines of montane endemic amphibians? New insights from Mount Bamboutos, Cameroon A. M. TCHASSEM F., T. M. DOHERTY-B ONE,M.M.KAMENI N. W. P. TAPONDJOU N.,J.L.TAMESSE and L . N . G ONWOUO Abstract Amphibians on African mountains are threatened Preserving a network of connected forest patches is there- by habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, disease and fore critical to save the endemic amphibians of Mount climate change. In particular, there have been recent reports Bamboutos. of declines of montane endemic frogs in Cameroon. Mount Keywords Africa, amphibians, anurans, Cameroon, caeci- Bamboutos, although home to numerous species of endemic lians, endemic species, forest degradation, mountains amphibians, has no official protection and its amphibian populations have so far not been studied quantitatively. Supplementary material for this article is available at We surveyed frog assemblages on this mountain along a https://doi.org/./S gradient of forest modification over a -year period. Through visual encounter surveys stratified across forest and farm- land, we found that threatened montane amphibian species Introduction are closely associated with forested areas, particularly the Critically Endangered Leptodactylodon axillaris and mphibians are threatened globally, with over one-third Endangered Leptodactylodon perreti, Astylosternus ranoides Aof all known species at risk of extinction and half show- and Cardioglossa oreas. Using the updated inventory of ing population declines (Stuart et al., ; IUCN, ). amphibians, which includes species with broader ranges Threats include habitat alteration, loss and fragmenta- across Africa, we found % of amphibian species on tion, pollution, overexploitation, disease, invasive species, Mount Bamboutos to be threatened. We did not record climate change and combinations of these factors (Beebee several species present in historical records, which suggests & Griffiths, ).
    [Show full text]
  • Folding Frog Afrixalus Paradorsalis (Anura: Hyperoliidae) of the Lower Guineo-Congolian Rain Forest
    DOI: 10.1111/jbi.13365 RESEARCH PAPER Sky, sea, and forest islands: Diversification in the African leaf-folding frog Afrixalus paradorsalis (Anura: Hyperoliidae) of the Lower Guineo-Congolian rain forest Kristin L. Charles1 | Rayna C. Bell2,3 | David C. Blackburn4 | Marius Burger5,6 | Matthew K. Fujita7 | Vaclav Gvozdık8,9 | Gregory F.M. Jongsma4 | Marcel Talla Kouete4 | Adam D. Leache10,11 | Daniel M. Portik7,12 1Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 2Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia 3Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 4Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 5African Amphibian Conservation Research Group, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom,South Africa 6Flora Fauna & Man, Ecological Services Ltd., Tortola, British Virgin Island 7Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas 8Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno,Czech Republic 9Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic 10Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 11Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 12Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Correspondence Daniel M. Portik, Department of Ecology Abstract and Evolutionary Biology, University of Aim: To investigate how putative barriers, forest refugia, and ecological gradients Arizona, Tucson, AZ. Email: [email protected] across the lower Guineo-Congolian rain forest shape genetic and phenotypic diver- gence in the leaf-folding frog Afrixalus paradorsalis, and examine the role of adjacent Funding information Division of Environmental Biology, Grant/ land bridge and sky-islands in diversification.
    [Show full text]
  • Goliath Frogs Build Nests for Spawning – the Reason for Their Gigantism? Marvin Schäfera, Sedrick Junior Tsekanéb, F
    JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY 2019, VOL. 53, NOS. 21–22, 1263–1276 https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2019.1642528 Goliath frogs build nests for spawning – the reason for their gigantism? Marvin Schäfera, Sedrick Junior Tsekanéb, F. Arnaud M. Tchassemb, Sanja Drakulića,b,c, Marina Kamenib, Nono L. Gonwouob and Mark-Oliver Rödel a,b,c aMuseum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany; bFaculty of Science, Laboratory of Zoology, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon; cFrogs & Friends, Berlin, Germany ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY In contrast to its popularity, astonishingly few facts have become Received 16 April 2019 known about the biology of the Goliath Frog, Conraua goliath.We Accepted 7 July 2019 herein report the so far unknown construction of nests as spawning KEYWORDS sites by this species. On the Mpoula River, Littoral District, West Amphibia; Anura; Cameroon; Cameroon we identified 19 nests along a 400 m section. Nests Conraua goliath; Conrauidae; could be classified into three types. Type 1 constitutes rock pools parental care that were cleared by the frogs from detritus and leaf-litter; type 2 constitutes existing washouts at the riverbanks that were cleared from leaf-litter and/or expanded, and type 3 were depressions dug by the frogs into gravel riverbanks. The cleaning and digging activ- ities of the frogs included removal of small to larger items, ranging from sand and leaves to larger stones. In all nest types eggs and tadpoles of C. goliath were detected. All nest types were used for egg deposition several times, and could comprise up to three distinct cohorts of tadpoles.
    [Show full text]
  • Biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and Its Islands Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use
    Biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa and its Islands Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use Occasional Papers of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 6 IUCN - The World Conservation Union IUCN Species Survival Commission Role of the SSC The Species Survival Commission (SSC) is IUCN's primary source of the 4. To provide advice, information, and expertise to the Secretariat of the scientific and technical information required for the maintenance of biologi- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna cal diversity through the conservation of endangered and vulnerable species and Flora (CITES) and other international agreements affecting conser- of fauna and flora, whilst recommending and promoting measures for their vation of species or biological diversity. conservation, and for the management of other species of conservation con- cern. Its objective is to mobilize action to prevent the extinction of species, 5. To carry out specific tasks on behalf of the Union, including: sub-species and discrete populations of fauna and flora, thereby not only maintaining biological diversity but improving the status of endangered and • coordination of a programme of activities for the conservation of bio- vulnerable species. logical diversity within the framework of the IUCN Conservation Programme. Objectives of the SSC • promotion of the maintenance of biological diversity by monitoring 1. To participate in the further development, promotion and implementation the status of species and populations of conservation concern. of the World Conservation Strategy; to advise on the development of IUCN's Conservation Programme; to support the implementation of the • development and review of conservation action plans and priorities Programme' and to assist in the development, screening, and monitoring for species and their populations.
    [Show full text]
  • Plasticity of Lung Development in the Amphibian, Xenopus Laevis
    1324 Research Article Plasticity of lung development in the amphibian, Xenopus laevis Christopher S. Rose* and Brandon James James Madison University, Department of Biology, Biosciences 2028, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA *Author for correspondence ([email protected]) Biology Open 2, 1324–1335 doi: 10.1242/bio.20133772 Received 26th November 2012 Accepted 26th September 2013 Summary Contrary to previous studies, we found that Xenopus laevis role of mechanical forces in lung development. Lung tadpoles raised in normoxic water without access to air can recovery in AR frogs was unpredictable and did not routinely complete metamorphosis with lungs that are either correlate with behavioral changes. Its low frequency of severely stunted and uninflated or absent altogether. This is occurrence could be attributed to developmental, physical the first demonstration that lung development in a tetrapod and behavioral changes, the effects of which increase with can be inhibited by environmental factors and that a tetrapod size and age. Plasticity of lung inflation at tadpole stages and that relies significantly on lung respiration under unstressed loss of plasticity at postmetamorphic stages offer new insights conditions can be raised to forego this function without into the role of developmental plasticity in amphibian lung adverse effects. This study compared lung development in loss and life history evolution. untreated, air-deprived (AD) and air-restored (AR) tadpoles and frogs using whole mounts, histology, BrdU labeling of ß 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. This cell division and antibody staining of smooth muscle actin. is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of We also examined the relationship of swimming and the Creative Commons Attribution License (http:// breathing behaviors to lung recovery in AR animals.
    [Show full text]
  • The Genus Astylosternus in the Upper Guinea Rainforests, West Africa, with the Description of a New Species (Amphibia: Anura: Arthroleptidae)
    Zootaxa 3245: 1–29 (2012) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2012 · Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) The genus Astylosternus in the Upper Guinea rainforests, West Africa, with the description of a new species (Amphibia: Anura: Arthroleptidae) MARK-OLIVER RÖDEL1, MICHAEL F. BAREJ1, ANNIKA HILLERS1,2, ADAM D. LEACHÉ3, N’GORAN G. KOUAMÉ4, CALEB OFORI-BOATENG5, N. EMMANUEL ASSEMIAN4, BLAYDA TOHÉ6, JOHANNES PENNER1, MAREIKE HIRSCHFELD1, JOSEPH DOUMBIA7, LEGRAND NONO GONWOUO8, JOACHIM NOPPER9, CHRISTIAN BREDE10, RAUL DIAZ11, MATTHEW K. FUJITA3, MARLON GIL12, GABRIEL H. SEGNIAGBETO13, RAFFAEL ERNST14 & LAURA SANDBERGER1 1Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity at the Humboldt University Berlin, Herpetol- ogy, Invalidenstr. 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]. 2Across the River Project, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 164 Dama Road, Kenema, Sierra Leone. ³Department of Biology & Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. 4University of Abobo-Adjamé, URES-Daloa, Department of Biology and Animal Physiology, Daloa, BP 150, Côte d´Ivoire. 5Department of Wildlife and Range Management, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. 6Université d´Abobo-Adjamé, Laboratoire d’Environnement et Biologie Aquatique, UFR-SGE, 02 BP 801, Abidjan 02, Côte d´Ivoire. 7ONG Sylvatrop Guinée, BP 4720 Conakry, Guinée. 8University of Yaoundé I, Faculty of Science, Laboratory of Zoology, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon. 9Ecology & Conservation, Biocenter Grindel, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. 10Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II, Zentrum für Experimentelle Molekulare Medizin, ZEMM - Zinklesweg 10, 97078 Würzburg, Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • Systematics of Leptopelis (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from the Itombwe
    University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2012-01-01 Systematics of Leptopelis (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from the Itombwe Plateau, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo Francisco Portillo University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Biology Commons, Developmental Biology Commons, Evolution Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Portillo, Francisco, "Systematics of Leptopelis (Anura: Arthroleptidae) from the Itombwe Plateau, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo" (2012). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1906. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/1906 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SYSTEMATICS OF LEPTOPELIS (ANURA: ARTHROLEPTIDAE) FROM THE ITOMBWE PLATEAU, EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO FRANK PORTILLO Department of Biological Sciences APPROVED: ______________________________ Eli Greenbaum, Ph.D., Chair ______________________________ Jerry D. Johnson, Ph.D. ______________________________ Rip Langford, Ph.D. ______________________________________ Benjamin C. Flores, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Frank Portillo 2012 SYSTEMATICS OF LEPTOPELIS (ANURA: ARTHROLEPTIDAE) FROM THE ITOMBWE PLATEAU, EASTERN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO by FRANK PORTILLO, B.S. THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Biological Sciences THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO December 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First I would like to thank my family for their love and support throughout my life.
    [Show full text]
  • 3Systematics and Diversity of Extant Amphibians
    Systematics and Diversity of 3 Extant Amphibians he three extant lissamphibian lineages (hereafter amples of classic systematics papers. We present widely referred to by the more common term amphibians) used common names of groups in addition to scientifi c Tare descendants of a common ancestor that lived names, noting also that herpetologists colloquially refer during (or soon after) the Late Carboniferous. Since the to most clades by their scientifi c name (e.g., ranids, am- three lineages diverged, each has evolved unique fea- bystomatids, typhlonectids). tures that defi ne the group; however, salamanders, frogs, A total of 7,303 species of amphibians are recognized and caecelians also share many traits that are evidence and new species—primarily tropical frogs and salaman- of their common ancestry. Two of the most defi nitive of ders—continue to be described. Frogs are far more di- these traits are: verse than salamanders and caecelians combined; more than 6,400 (~88%) of extant amphibian species are frogs, 1. Nearly all amphibians have complex life histories. almost 25% of which have been described in the past Most species undergo metamorphosis from an 15 years. Salamanders comprise more than 660 species, aquatic larva to a terrestrial adult, and even spe- and there are 200 species of caecilians. Amphibian diver- cies that lay terrestrial eggs require moist nest sity is not evenly distributed within families. For example, sites to prevent desiccation. Thus, regardless of more than 65% of extant salamanders are in the family the habitat of the adult, all species of amphibians Plethodontidae, and more than 50% of all frogs are in just are fundamentally tied to water.
    [Show full text]
  • A Method to Distinguish Intensively Farmed from Wild Frogs
    Received: 23 March 2016 | Revised: 30 January 2017 | Accepted: 6 February 2017 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2878 ORIGINAL RESEARCH Stable isotope analyses—A method to distinguish intensively farmed from wild frogs Carolin Dittrich | Ulrich Struck | Mark-Oliver Rödel Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Abstract Germany Consumption of frog legs is increasing worldwide, with potentially dramatic effects for Correspondence ecosystems. More and more functioning frog farms are reported to exist. However, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Museum für Naturkunde, due to the lack of reliable methods to distinguish farmed from wild- caught individuals, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany. the origin of frogs in the international trade is often uncertain. Here, we present a new Email: [email protected] methodological approach to this problem. We investigated the isotopic composition of Funding information legally traded frog legs from suppliers in Vietnam and Indonesia. Muscle and bone tis- 15 13 18 Museum für Naturkunde Berlin; MfN sue samples were examined for δ N, δ C, and δ O stable isotope compositions, to Innovation fund; Leibniz Association′s Open Access Publishing Fund elucidate the conditions under which the frogs grew up. We used DNA barcoding (16S rRNA) to verify species identities. We identified three traded species (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, Fejervarya cancrivora and Limnonectes macrodon); species identities were 15 18 partly deviating from package labeling. Isotopic values of δ N and δ O showed sig- 15 nificant differences between species and country of origin. Based on low δ N compo- sition and generally little variation in stable isotope values, our results imply that frogs from Vietnam were indeed farmed.
    [Show full text]
  • Gekkotan Lizard Taxonomy
    3% 5% 2% 4% 3% 5% H 2% 4% A M A D R Y 3% 5% A GEKKOTAN LIZARD TAXONOMY 2% 4% D ARNOLD G. KLUGE V O 3% 5% L 2% 4% 26 NO.1 3% 5% 2% 4% 3% 5% 2% 4% J A 3% 5% N 2% 4% U A R Y 3% 5% 2 2% 4% 0 0 1 VOL. 26 NO. 1 JANUARY, 2001 3% 5% 2% 4% INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS Hamadryad publishes original papers dealing with, but not necessarily restricted to, the herpetology of Asia. Re- views of books and major papers are also published. Manuscripts should be only in English and submitted in triplicate (one original and two copies, along with three cop- ies of all tables and figures), printed or typewritten on one side of the paper. Manuscripts can also be submitted as email file attachments. Papers previously published or submitted for publication elsewhere should not be submitted. Final submissions of accepted papers on disks (IBM-compatible only) are desirable. For general style, contributors are requested to examine the current issue of Hamadryad. Authors with access to publication funds are requested to pay US$ 5 or equivalent per printed page of their papers to help defray production costs. Reprints cost Rs. 2.00 or 10 US cents per page inclusive of postage charges, and should be ordered at the time the paper is accepted. Major papers exceeding four pages (double spaced typescript) should contain the following headings: Title, name and address of author (but not titles and affiliations), Abstract, Key Words (five to 10 words), Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, Literature Cited (only the references cited in the paper).
    [Show full text]
  • Anura: Ranidae)
    Hamadryad Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 75 – 82 , 2000 Copyright 2000 Centre for Herpetology, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust MOLECULAR AND KARYOLOGICAL DATA ON THE SOUTH ASIAN RANID GENERA INDIRANA, NYCTIBATRACHUS AND NANNOPHRYS (ANURA: RANIDAE) Miguel Vences1,4, Stefan Wanke1, Gaetano Odierna2, Joachim Kosuch3 and Michael Veith3 1Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany. Email: [email protected] 2Dipartimento Biologia Evolutiva e Comparata, Universitá di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80134 Napoli, Italy. Email: [email protected] 3Zoologisches Institut der Universität Mainz, Abteilung Ökologie, Saarstrasse 21, D55099 Mainz, Germany. Email: [email protected] 4Present address: Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire des Reptiles et Amphibiens, 25 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France. (with four text-figures) ABSTRACT.– Phylogenetic relationships of the endemic south Asian frogs of the genera Indirana, Nyctibatrachus and Nannophrys were studied using DNA sequences (a total of 880 bp) of the mitochondrial 16S and 12S rRNA genes. The topology of the obtained cladograms was largely unresolved, indicating a star-like radiation of the main ranid lineages. No molecular affinities were found between the south Asian taxa and Malagasy ranids. Nannophrys was positioned as sister group of Euphlyctis in all analyses. This grouping, which was supported by moderate to high bootstrap values, indicates that Nannophrys is an offshoot of Asian ranids, and not related to the South African cacosternines. Karyotypes were obtained for Nannophrys ceylonensis (2n = 26), N. marmorata (2n = 26), Indirana sp. (2n = 30) and I. cf. leptodactyla (2n = 24). The 2n = 30 karyotype of Indirana sp.
    [Show full text]
  • 1704632114.Full.Pdf
    Phylogenomics reveals rapid, simultaneous PNAS PLUS diversification of three major clades of Gondwanan frogs at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary Yan-Jie Fenga, David C. Blackburnb, Dan Lianga, David M. Hillisc, David B. Waked,1, David C. Cannatellac,1, and Peng Zhanga,1 aState Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, College of Ecology and Evolution, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China; bDepartment of Natural History, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; cDepartment of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Collections, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712; and dMuseum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 Contributed by David B. Wake, June 2, 2017 (sent for review March 22, 2017; reviewed by S. Blair Hedges and Jonathan B. Losos) Frogs (Anura) are one of the most diverse groups of vertebrates The poor resolution for many nodes in anuran phylogeny is and comprise nearly 90% of living amphibian species. Their world- likely a result of the small number of molecular markers tra- wide distribution and diverse biology make them well-suited for ditionally used for these analyses. Previous large-scale studies assessing fundamental questions in evolution, ecology, and conser- used 6 genes (∼4,700 nt) (4), 5 genes (∼3,800 nt) (5), 12 genes vation. However, despite their scientific importance, the evolutionary (6) with ∼12,000 nt of GenBank data (but with ∼80% missing history and tempo of frog diversification remain poorly understood. data), and whole mitochondrial genomes (∼11,000 nt) (7). In By using a molecular dataset of unprecedented size, including 88-kb the larger datasets (e.g., ref.
    [Show full text]