Abstract
Ethiopia is a world biodiversity hotspot and harbours levels of biotic endemism unmatched in the Horn of Africa, largely due to topographic—and thus habitat—complexity, which results from a very active geological and climatic history. Among Ethiopian vertebrate fauna, amphibians harbour the highest levels of endemism, making amphibians a compelling system for the exploration of the impacts of Ethiopia's complex abiotic history on biotic diversification. Grass frogs of the genus Ptychadena are notably diverse in Ethiopia, where they have undergone an evolutionary radiation. We used molecular data and expanded taxon sampling to test for cryptic diversity and to explore diversification patterns in both the highland radiation and two widespread lowland Ptychadena. Species delimitation results support the presence of nine highland species and four lowland species in our dataset, and divergence dating suggests that both geologic events and climatic fluctuations played a complex and confounded role in the diversification of Ptychadena in Ethiopia. We rectify the taxonomy of the endemic P. neumanni species complex, elevating one formally synonymized name and describing three novel taxa. Finally, we describe two novel lowland Ptychadena species that occur in Ethiopia and may be more broadly distributed.
Highlights
Ethiopia is the cradle of humanity, a hotspot of biodiversity [1] and the second most populated nation in Africa [2]
Variation in topography and land use in conjunction with seasonal variation in climatic conditions has led to a heterogeneous landscape with a variety of habitats characterized by high levels of endemism, in the highlands [4]
Our combined 16S dataset contains 25 of the 49 described species of Ptychandena, and 9 of the 13 described Ptychadena which occur in Ethiopia
Summary
Ethiopia is the cradle of humanity, a hotspot of biodiversity [1] and the second most populated nation in Africa [2]. Factors have led to a confluence of circumstances that have largely obscured the evolutionary history 2 of this unique biotic region. Covering roughly 1 127 000 km over three primary geomorphological landscape regions—(i) the northern highlands, (ii) the Rift Valley and (iii) the southern plateau—Ethiopia has a remarkably diverse biota that has evolved amidst a long history of abiotic change [4]. Variation in topography and land use in conjunction with seasonal variation in climatic conditions has led to a heterogeneous landscape with a variety of habitats characterized by high levels of endemism, in the highlands [4]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.