Filling gaps in the knowledge of anuran hand and foot musculature: studies on the Indian families Micrixalidae, Nasikabatrachidae, Nyctibatrachidae, Ranixalidae, and key Indian genera

• Grant number: 16/21401-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: March 01, 2017
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Taran Grant
• Grantee: Boris Leonardo Blotto Acuña
• Supervisor: Sathyabhama das Biju
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Delhi (DU), India
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/20423-3 - Relationships among major clades of Hyloidea (Anura: Neobatrachia): one of the main unresolved problems of the phylogeny of Anura, BP.PD

Abstract

No comprehensive study on hand and foot musculature across the diversity of Anura has been carried out. During the development of the current postdoc, several anuran taxa were studied for these character systems. However, some endemic taxa from India (Micrixalidae, Nasikabatrachidae, Nyctibatrachidae, Ranixalidae) are still missing in the taxon sampling. These taxa, and particularly Nasikabatrachidae, are necessary for a full understanding of the evolution of several characters in Anura and at the basal node of Hyloidea. On the other hand, Bufonidae is a fundamental family for the understanding of the relationships within Hyloidea, and several key Indian genera are still unsampled. Finally, the study of convergences across distant unrelated taxa with similar life histories are a fruitful field for understanding the evolution of a number of traits and putative adaptations. Several unique genera of Rhacophoridae (with terrestrial and arboreal species) are distributed in India. A dense taxon sampling of this family will bring light in the adaptations for climbing, both within Rhacophoridae and across Anura. Similarly, adaptations for burrowing were also suggested, and additional sampling of fossorial microhylids (as well as the fossorial Nasikabatrachidae) will allow progress in this field. The present project aims to survey variation in hand and foot musculature across Anura, focusing on key Indian taxa as outgroups and the hyloid Bufonidae, and study the convergences across unrelated taxa with similar life history. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BLOTTO, BORIS L.; BIJU, S. D.; PEREYRA, MARTIN O.; ARAUJO-VIEIRA, KATYUSCIA; FAIVOVICH, JULIAN; GRANT, TARAN. and and foot musculature of Sooglossoidea: synapomorphies, convergences and hind limb digging behaviour in anuran. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 135, n. 2, p. 336-393, FEB 2022. (18/15425-0, 16/21401-1, 15/11237-7, 13/20423-3, 12/10000-5, 19/24979-2)