Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 79 (4): 435-450, 2006
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Phylogenetic relationships of Chilean leptodactylids: a molecular approach based on
mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S
Most Chilean amphibians belong to the subfamily Telmatobiinae (Anura, Leptodactylidae).
Several phylogenetic studies of Leptodactylidae and Telmatobiinae, based principally on morphological characters, have implicitly
suggested closer relationships of some species of the Telmatobiinae with members of other subfamilies of leptodactylids, including the
leptodactyline genus Pleurodema which is present in Chile. Furthermore, a growing number of molecular studies suggest
a non-monophyletic status for Telmatobiinae, although none of these studies have investigated the phylogenetic relationships of this
subfamily. We compared partial sequences of the ribosomal mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S to determine the phylogenetic
relationships of Chilean leptodactylids and its position within the modern anurans (Neobatrachia). We included 22 species from nine of
the 10 genera of telmatobiines present in Chile (Alsodes, Atelognathus, Batrachyla,
Caudiverbera, Eupsophus, Hylorina, Insuetophrynus, Telmatobufo and
Telmatobius), two species of the genus Pleurodema, and one species of Rhinodermatidae, which is
considered a leptodactylid derivative family by some authors. We also included 51 species representing most of the families that
compose Neobatrachia. Phylogenetic reconstructions were performed using the methods of maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood
and Bayesian inference. The topologies obtained in all the analyses indicate that Telmatobiinae is a polyphyletic assemblage,
composed by species belonging to Hyloidea (most of the genera) and species more related to Australasian taxa (the clade
Caudiverbera + Telmatobufo, defined as the tribe Calyptocephalellini). These molecular data support groups
based on other kinds of evidence (Caudiverbera + Telmatobufo, Alsodes + Eupsophus
and Batrachyla + Hylorina) and raise new phylogenetic hypotheses for several genera of telmatobiines
(Atelognathus with Batrachyla and Hylorina, Insuetophrynus +
Rhinoderma). The phylogenetic relationships recovered in this study suggest a multiple origin for Chilean temperate forest
frogs and reveal an unexpected level of taxonomic diversity and evolutionary divergence among Chilean
leptodactylids.
Key words:
Telmatobiinae,
Calyptocephalellini, Rhinodermatidae, ribosomal mitochondrial genes, phylogenetic reconstruction
