Reducing the Linnean and Darwinian knowledge shortfalls in a group of anurans endemic to Brazil (Leptodactylidae: Paratelmatobiinae)

• Grant number: 21/06575-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Grantee: Marcus Thadeu Teixeira Santos
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10639-5 - Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/03528-0 - Assessing species boundaries and evolutionary potential to environmental changes in a vulnerable and narrowly endemic anuran species, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

In light of the current biodiversity crisis, initiatives aimed at reducing the Linnean (i.e., discrepancy between the number of described and existing species) and Darwinian (i.e., insufficient understanding of the evolutionary relationships) knowledge shortfalls have become increasingly urgent. This is especially relevant for taxa that have characteristics associated with a high extinction risk (e.g., rarity, restricted geographic range, and habitat specialization), as are the species of the anuran subfamily Paratelmatobiinae. This group comprises 14 species endemic to Brazil, distributed in the Atlantic Forest and campo rupestre ecosystems. A recently published phylogenetic hypothesis suggests that the species richness within the subfamily is highly underestimated, due to the presence of lineages that could not be assigned to any nominal species (putatively new species) and the potential occurrence of cryptic diversity. Furthermore, the phylogenetic placement of three species remains uncertain due to the unavailability of tissue samples. In this project, analyses of distinct character systems (DNA, adult and larval morphology, bioacoustics, and cytogenetics) and different delimitation methods will be conducted to assess the taxonomic status of the putatively new species and the deeply divergent lineages that were previously detected for Paratelmatobiinae. Additionally, by using recently collected samples and high-throughput sequencing of historical specimens, the project also aims to produce a phylogenetic hypothesis that encompasses all currently recognized species in the subfamily, including those no longer found in nature. Finally, in order to support future studies and speed up the process of describing new species, a digital database with the inclusion of a multi-access identification key will be developed for the species of Paratelmatobiinae. (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)

PEDROSO, RICARDO NEVES; SANTOS, MARCUS THADEU TEIXEIRA; LOURENCO, LUCIANA BOLSONI. Rapid karyotypic evolution with high diploid number variation in a rare genus of bromeligenous frogs. GENOME, v. 65, n. 5, p. 10-pg., 2022-03-11. (13/50741-7, 21/06575-1)

BRUNES, TULIANA O.; PINTO, FELIPE C. S.; TAUCCE, PEDRO P. G.; SANTOS, MARCUS THADEU T.; NASCIMENTO, LUCIANA B.; CARVALHO, DANIEL C.; OLIVEIRA, GUILHERME; VASCONCELOS, SANTELMO; LEITE, FELIPE S. F.. Traditional taxonomy underestimates the number of species of Bokermannohyla (Amphibia: Anura: Hylidae) diverging in the mountains of southeastern Brazil since the Miocene. SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY, v. 21, n. 1, p. 20-pg., 2023-12-31. (21/06575-1)