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
Holarctic
Hylinae
The predominantly Eurasian
Hyla
split from the predominantly North American
Dryophytes
in the Miocene, 22.6 Mya, with the former genus dispersing throughout Eurasia. Subsequent aridification of much of central Asia resulted there in a western clade of eight species of
Hyla
in what is now Europe and southwestern Asia and a farremoved eastern clade in temperate and subtropical southeastern Asia.
Also in the mid-Miocene 15.4 (13.6–17.3) Mya, the clade that remained in North
America
differentiated genetically, and evolved into what is recognized as
Dryophytes,
which occurs throughout temperate eastern North
America
. Our analysis shows that a stock of
Dryophytes
dispersed westward across the Bering Land Bridge to Asia in the late Miocene 8.7 (6.6–10.9) Mya. This stock differentiated into three species in eastern Asia (including
Japan
), the
Dryophytes immaculatus
Group. The closest relatives of this group, the
Dryophytes eximius
Group, principally inhabited the pine forests from southwestern
United States
to
Guatemala
.
Thus there were two dispersals of hylid frogs across the Bering Land Bridge; temporally these are: (1)
Hyla
from east to west, and (2)
Dryophytes
from west to east. In contrast to their Middle American relatives, no lineage of hylines in North
America
inhabited streams, a habitat that is plentiful in the Appalachian, Rocky, and
Sierra
Nevada mountain ranges, among others.