AUTHOR=Yan Peng , Pan Tao , Wu Guiyou , Kang Xing , Ali Izaz , Zhou Wenliang , Li Jiatang , Wu Xiaobing , Zhang Baowei 

TITLE=Species Delimitation and Evolutionary History of Tree Frogs in the Hyla chinensis Group (Hylidae, Amphibian)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.00234

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2020.00234

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=Species are the cornerstone in many domains of biology research, which make the accurate species delimitation became critically important. In this study, the systematics and biogeography of the Hyla chinensis-group were analyzed based on phylogeny, species delimitation and ancestral area reconstruction methods. The phylogenetic results showed six specific clusters existed in the H. chinensis-group. BPP analysis indicated that six distinct species exist due to the high probability values (>0.95), which were also supported by the BF analysis. The divergence time of the H. chinensis-group was estimated to date back to 18.84 Mya in the early Miocene. Combining the results of ancestral area reconstruction, the H. chinensis-group might have originated from Guangxi-Hainan, then spread eastwardly and reached Nanling mountains, Wuyi mountains, Huangshan mountains and Taiwan. In rightabout colonization, it was gradually extended to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Sichuan basin, Qinling mountains and Dabie mountains. Considering the geological movement from early Miocene to Pliocene, the colonization pattern of the H. chinensis-group maybe closely related to the progressive uplift of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) and historical climate change. Our study provided evidence for species delimitation and speciation process within the H. chinensis-group. Our study supported the hypothesis that the evolutionary divergence in this species group was a consequence of the progressive uplift of QTP and environmental change.