A new ancient lineage of frog (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae: Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.) endemic to the Western Ghats of Peninsular India - PubMed (original) (raw)

A new ancient lineage of frog (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae: Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.) endemic to the Western Ghats of Peninsular India

Seenapuram Palaniswamy Vijayakumar et al. PeerJ. 2019.

Abstract

The Western Ghats (WG) is an escarpment on the west coast of Peninsular India, housing one of the richest assemblages of frogs in the world, with three endemic families. Here, we report the discovery of a new ancient lineage from a high-elevation massif in the Wayanad Plateau of the southern WG. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the lineage belongs to Natatanura and clusters with Nyctibatrachidae, a family endemic to the WG/Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Based on geographic distribution, unique morphological traits, deep genetic divergence, and phylogenetic position that distinguishes the lineage from the two nyctibatrachid subfamilies Nyctibatrachinae Blommers-Schlösser, 1993 and Lankanectinae Dubois & Ohler, 2001, we erect a new subfamily Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov. (endemic to the WG, Peninsular India), and describe a new genus Astrobatrachus gen. nov. and species, Astrobatrachus kurichiyana sp. nov. The discovery of this species adds to the list of deeply divergent and monotypic or depauperate lineages with narrow geographic ranges in the southern massifs of the WG. The southern regions of the WG have long been considered geographic and climatic refugia, and this new relict lineage underscores their evolutionary significance. The small range of this species exclusively outside protected areas highlights the significance of reserve forest tracts in the WG in housing evolutionary novelty. This reinforces the need for intensive sampling to uncover new lineages and advance our understanding of the historical biogeography of this ancient landmass.

Keywords: Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.; Astrobatrachus kurichiyana gen et. sp. nov.; Microendemism; Molecular phylogenetics; Natatanura; Osteology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1. Geographical range (A) of the three genera, Nyctibatrachus (Nyctibatrachinae), Lankanectes (Lankanectinae) and the new genus Astrobatrachus (Astrobatrachinae subfam. nov.).

Inset maps show the type locality (B) and the narrow range (C) of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana gen et. sp. nov. Photo Credit: S. P. Vijayakumar.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Phylogenetic position of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana nested within Natatanura in the clade Nyctibatrachidae.

Photo credit: S. P. Vijayakumar.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Live images of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana.

Profile (A), close-up of head (B), ventral (C), dorsal (D), side-profile (E). Photo Credit: S.P. Vijayakumar (A and B; reference collection CESF 1567), K.P. Dinesh (C, D and E; ZSI/WRC/A/2131)

Figure 4

Figure 4. Paratype of _Astrobatrachus kurichiyana_- ZSI/WRC/A/2133 (female): Ventral head (A), dorsal head (B), ventral (C), ventral fingers (D), lateral head (E), ventral toes (F).

Drawing Credit: Achyuthan N. Srikanthan

Figure 5

Figure 5. Female of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana (reference collection CESF 2898).

Female of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana (CESF 2898) as visualized via microCT-scanning with skull in dorsal (A), right lateral (B), and ventral (C) views, entire skeleton in dorsal view (D), right hand in dorsal view (E), pectoral girdle in ventral view (F), and pelvis in right lateral view (G). Note that distal extent of the fourth and fifth toes on both feet were truncated during CT-scanning. Abbreviations of anatomical terms are as follows: av, anterior vomer; clav, clavicle; cor, coracoid; np, neopalatine; omo, omosternum; pro, prootic; prsph, parasphenoid; pv, posterior vomer; scap, scapula; sph, sphenethmoid; sq, squamosal; xiph, xiphisternum.

Figure 6

Figure 6. Comparisons of male paratype (ZSI/WRC/2132) of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana to representatives of other WG endemics.

Exemplars from Nyctibatrachidae, Micrixalidae, and Ranixalidae in different views ((A–F) entire skeleton in dorsal view; (G–I) dorsal view of skull; (M–R) ventral view of skull; (S–X) ventral view of pectoral girdle). Abbreviations of anatomical terms are as follows: av, anterior vomer; clav, clavicle; np, neopalatine; omo, omosternum; pv, posterior vomer.

Figure 7

Figure 7. Type locality of Astrobatrachus kurichiyana.

Most individuals were sighted in the montane forests except for a single individual in the grassland. Locality: Kurichiyarmala, Wayanad Plateau. Photo taken: June 2010. Photo Credit: S.P. Vijayakumar.

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Grants and funding

The following agencies provided funding: the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) grant-in-aid scheme 37(1371)/09/EMR_II, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (Western Ghats), the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), and the US National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-1441719 to RAP and DBI-1701714 to David C. Blackburn). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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