Out of Borneo, again and again: Biogeography of the Stream Toad genus Ansonia Stoliczka (Anura: Bufonidae) and the discovery of the first limestone cave-dwelling species

L. Lee Grismer, Perry L. Wood, Anchalee Aowphol, Michael Cota, Marta S. Grismer, Matthew L. Murdoch, Cesar Aguilar, Jesse L. Grismer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Subsequent to the Miocene (approximately 35 Mya), Borneo has served as an insular refuge and a source of colonization for a broad range of species emigrating to others parts of Sundaland. A phylogeny-based historical biogeographical hypothesis for the Stream Toad genus Ansonia supports multiple instances of an out-of-Borneo scenario. An ancestral range estimation indicates that in situ speciation of Ansonia on the island of Borneo during the Late Miocene and Pliocene (approximately 2-13 Mya) eventually resulted in an invasion of the Philippines, Sumatra, and two independent invasions of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. When collecting material for the biogeographical analysis, a new species of Ansonia, Ansonia khaochangensis sp. nov. was discovered in a limestone cave from the Khao Chang karst tower in Phangnga Province, in southern Thailand. Ansonia khaochangensis sp. nov. can be differentiated from all other species of Ansonia by having a unique combination of morphological and colour pattern characteristics. Phylogenetic evidence based on the mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S indicates that it is nested within a clade of other species distributed north of the Isthmus of Kra. The cave lifestyle of this new species is a unique and a significant departure from lotic environments common to most other species of Ansonia. The reproductive biology of this species is unknown.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)371-395
Number of pages25
JournalBiological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume120
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for LLG came from grants from the College of Arts and Sciences at La Sierra University and from a National Geographic Society Explorers Grant (9277-15). Partial funding for PLWJ and CA was from a NSF dimensions grant EF-1241885 issued to Jack W. Sites Jr (JWSJ). Additional funding for PLWJ was from a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG 1501198) issued to PLWJ and JWSJ. We wish to thank two anonymous reviewers and Masafumi Matsui for many helpful comments

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Linnean Society of London.

Keywords

  • BioGeoBEARS
  • Biogeography
  • Karst ecosystem
  • Sundaland
  • Systematics
  • Thailand

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