Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the treefrogs (Amphibia: Anura: Arboranae)
Author
Duellman, William E.
Author
Marion, Angela B.
Author
Hedges, Blair
text
Zootaxa
2016
4104
1
1
109
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4104.1.1
9b3e7716-1099-48ca-803b-620c25d788f1
1175-5326
265809
D598E724-C9E4-4BBA-B25D-511300A47B1D
Hylidae
: Cophomantinae
Shortly after the origin of the clade herein referred to as cophomantines, an ancestral stock inhabited the earlyuplifted western part of the continent (the proto Andes). This clade representing current
Colomascirtus
,
Hyloscirtus
,
and
Myersiohyla
diverged (crown node) in the mid-Eocene 47.5 (38.0–57.0) Mya. These frogs inhabited streams, and their tadpoles developed large suctorial mouths with many rows of labial teeth as they dispersed through the ever-rising Andes. An early divergence (the crown node) in northern South
America
restricted
Myersiella
to the
Guiana
Highlands, whereas in the Andes in the early Oligocene
Colomascirtus
differentiated from
Hyloscirtus
33.3 (29.3–37.3) Mya.
Coloma
et al.
(2012)
estimated the minimum divergence time of these events as 61.2 and 40.9 Mya, respectively. The latter inhabited low to moderate elevations, whereas
Colomascirtus
came to inhabit streams at higher elevations.
The other major clade within Cophomantinae subsequently diverged into two lineages in the late Eocene, 36.8 (32.8–40.8) Mya. One clade consisted solely of
Bokermannohyla
,
which inhabited the mountains of southeastern
Brazil
and developed stream-adapted tadpoles. In the other clade, a lowland lineage,
Hypsiboas
,
differentiated from a highland group,
Aplastodiscus
with stream-adapted tadpoles, in the late Eocene, 34.2 (30.9–37.5) Mya.
The earliest divergence within
Hypsiboas
occurred in the mid-Oligocene 31.9 (28.4–35.5) Mya when a large group of species (
H
.
benitezi
–
H.
sibleszi
) occupied northeastern South
America
including the
Guiana
Highlands. Differentiation of most clades of
Hypsiboas
occurred in the Miocene. For example, the long-legged tree frogs of the
Hypsiboas albopunctatus
Group differentiated about 17.4 (14.0–20.8) Mya in the Amazon Basin and dispersed into coastal
Brazil
. Likewise, the ancestral large, arboreal frogs in
Hypsiboas albomarginatus
Group diverged about 19.2 (15.4–22.9) Mya. Other species groups are more recent. For example, the clade of Andean species in the
Hypsiboas balzani
Group differentiated in the Pliocene about 5.0 (13.8–6.1) Mya. Similarly, the Pliocene was the time of divergence of the ancestral stock of the
Hypsiboas pulchellus
Group, 5.7 (4.8–6.5) Mya that came to inhabit subtropical highlands from
Bolivia
to southern
Brazil
.