Phylogeography of the Middle Eastern tree frogs (Hyla, Hylidae, Amphibia) as an inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variation, with a description of a new species

0345356 - ÚŽFG 2011 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Gvoždík, Václav - Moravec, J. - Klütsch, C. - Kotlík, Petr
Phylogeography of the Middle Eastern tree frogs (Hyla, Hylidae, Amphibia) as an inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variation, with a description of a new species.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Roč. 55, č. 3 (2010), s. 1146-1166. ISSN 1055-7903. E-ISSN 1095-9513
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC06073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50450515
Keywords : Hyla savignyi * Hyla felixarabica sp. nov. * Hyla orientalis
Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour
Impact factor: 3.889, year: 2010

Evolutionary relationships of the tree frogs, Hyla savignyi and H. orientalis, from the Middle East and the demographic histories of their populations were studied using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Within H. savignyi, a deep phylogenetic divergence dated about 8.4 Ma was discovered. Southern populations are hereby described as a new species, H. felixarabica sp. nov. Our study points to a biogeographic connection of the south-western Arabian Peninsula and southern Levant and to the importance of the Dead Sea Rift as a historical geological barrier. Major genetic breaks revealed within the species are probably connected to climate changes during the Plio–Pleistocene boundary, while the finer phylogeographic structuring probably resulted from the Quaternary climate oscillations.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0186645