Genetic characterization and speciation of the Ischnocnema guentheri-I. henselii (Anura: Brachycephalidae) species complex in a phylogenomic scale

• Grant number: 16/22450-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: September 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Grantee: Pedro Paulo Goulart Taucci
• Supervisor: Michael Hickerson
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: City University of New York, New York (CUNY), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/05772-4 - Taxonomic review and phylogenetic study of the Ischnocnema guentheri species series (Anura: Brachycephalidae), BP.DR

Abstract

In our project in Brazil (FAPESP #2014/05772-4) we investigate the species boundaries among the members of the Ischnocnema guentheri species series (Anura: Brachycephalidae) as well as the phylogenetic relationships among them, using an integrative taxonomy approach. Herein we propose to deepen in I. guentheri and I. henselii, which have shown to be a complex of at least six morphologically cryptic lineages with deep genetic structure. To understand such a complex taxonomic problem, we will use Anchored Phylogenomics sequencing and innovative model-based phylogeography methods to help elucidate the biogeographic scenario that led to lineage diversification. We hope unveil population history by investigating processes such as gene flow, introgression, and time of divergence, all of which were shown relevant to other taxa in the Atlantic Forest biome. We also expect this approach will lead to a better delimitation in species boundaries in the I. guentheri-I. henselii species complex due to improved population structure accounts resulting from a high number of markers. We will conduct this project in the Hickerson's lab, at the City College of New York, United States of America, and the results should add to a third chapter in the candidate's Ph.D. thesis. (AU)