TY - JOUR
T1 - Species boundaries, phylogeography and conservation genetics of the red-legged frog (Rana aurora/draytonii) complex
AU - Shaffer, H. Bradley
AU - Fellers, G. M.
AU - Randal Voss, S.
AU - Oliver, J. C.
AU - Pauly, Gregory B.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2004/9
Y1 - 2004/9
N2 - The red-legged frog, Rana aurora, has been recognized as both a single, polytypic species and as two distinct species since its original description 150 years ago. It is currently recognized as one species with two geographically contiguous subspecies, aurora and draytonii; the latter is protected under the US Endangered Species Act. We present the results of a survey of 50 populations of red-legged frogs from across their range plus four outgroup species for variation in a phylogenetically informative, ∼400 base pairs (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Our mtDNA analysis points to several major results. (1) In accord with several other lines of independent evidence, aurora and draytonii are each diagnosably distinct, evolutionary lineages; the mtDNA data indicate that they do not constitute a monophyletic group, but rather that aurora and R. cascadae from the Pacific northwest are sister taxa; (2) the range of the draytonii mtDNA clade extends about 100 km further north in coastal California than was previously suspected, and corresponds closely with the range limits or phylogeographical breaks of several codistributed taxa; (3) a narrow zone of overlap exists in southern Mendocino County between aurora and draytonii haplotypes, rather than a broad intergradation zone; and (4) the critically endangered population of draytonii in Riverside County, CA forms a distinct clade with frogs from Baja California, Mexico. The currently available evidence favours recognition of aurora and draytonii as separate species with a narrow zone of overlap in northern California.
AB - The red-legged frog, Rana aurora, has been recognized as both a single, polytypic species and as two distinct species since its original description 150 years ago. It is currently recognized as one species with two geographically contiguous subspecies, aurora and draytonii; the latter is protected under the US Endangered Species Act. We present the results of a survey of 50 populations of red-legged frogs from across their range plus four outgroup species for variation in a phylogenetically informative, ∼400 base pairs (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Our mtDNA analysis points to several major results. (1) In accord with several other lines of independent evidence, aurora and draytonii are each diagnosably distinct, evolutionary lineages; the mtDNA data indicate that they do not constitute a monophyletic group, but rather that aurora and R. cascadae from the Pacific northwest are sister taxa; (2) the range of the draytonii mtDNA clade extends about 100 km further north in coastal California than was previously suspected, and corresponds closely with the range limits or phylogeographical breaks of several codistributed taxa; (3) a narrow zone of overlap exists in southern Mendocino County between aurora and draytonii haplotypes, rather than a broad intergradation zone; and (4) the critically endangered population of draytonii in Riverside County, CA forms a distinct clade with frogs from Baja California, Mexico. The currently available evidence favours recognition of aurora and draytonii as separate species with a narrow zone of overlap in northern California.
KW - Conservation genetics
KW - Cytochrome b
KW - Declining amphibian
KW - Pacific Northwest phylogeography
KW - Rana aurora
KW - Rana draytonii
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02285.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2004.02285.x
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15315679
AN - SCOPUS:4344616244
VL - 13
SP - 2667
EP - 2677
IS - 9
ER -