An Integrative Phylogeny of Anura: Extinct and Extant Species

• Grant number: 25/13430-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Principal Investigator: Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad
• Grantee: Lucas Almeida Barcelos
• 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

Abstract

Due to data scarcity and the complexity of analytical methods, constructing a phylogenetic hypothesis that includes both living and extinct species remains one of the most significant challenges in evolutionary biology. Such hypotheses are essential for understanding the evolution of traits and adaptations to different environments, with fossils playing a particularly crucial role in calibrating lineage divergences over time. In the case of Anura, a group comprising approximately 7,700 living species, the systematic exclusion of fossils from phylogenetic reconstructions results in an incomplete understanding of their evolutionary history. This gap significantly impacts our knowledge of the group's origins, diversification, and ancestral traits. To address this limitation, the Total Evidence approach emerges as a promising alternative by integrating molecular and morphological data while incorporating fossils. This methodology enables a broader temporal perspective on the evolution of morphological traits. This project has three main objectives: (1) To construct the first comprehensive phylogeny of Anura by combining molecular, morphological, and fossil data; and (2) To identify synapomorphies-shared characteristics-at both broad and more restricted clade levels, contributing to a deeper understanding of the group's diversity and evolutionary history over time.