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| Author(s): |
Vanessa Kruth Verdade
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) |
| Defense date: | 2006-01-26 |
| Examining board members: |
Miguel Trefaut Urbano Rodrigues;
Jaime Aparecido Bertoluci;
Célio Fernando Baptista Haddad;
Hélio Ricardo da Silva;
Hussam El Dine Zaher
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| Advisor: | Miguel Trefaut Urbano Rodrigues |
| Abstract | |
The genera Cycloramphus and Zachaenus represent a monophyletic assemblage including 28 species nowadays allocated in the subfamily Cycloramphinae (Leptodactylidae). The species of this group are characterized by rounded and robust bodies, wide and flattened head, tympanum not visible and a menisc at the top of the iris. All are restricted to the Atlantic Forest Domain, with the highest diversity of the group associated to the mountain complex of the South and Southeastern Brazil. Despite little information disposable on the natural history of these species, they can be splitted in two eco-morphological groups based on morphology. One of them, including terrestrial or semi-fossorial species with endotrophic tadpoles that develop in terrestrial environment. The other one, including species strongly associated to fast running streams in forested areas and exotrophic tadpoles that develop in semi-aerial conditions. The relationships among the species of Cycloramphus and Zachaenus are not well established and can be modified by the addition of new taxa and characters. In this study, the external and internal morphology (miology and osteology) of individuals from 23 species of the Cycloramphus and Zachaenus complex were compared resulting in 118 characters later included in a phylogenetic analysis. The analysis provided 4 fundamental trees (length 266), where Zachaenus and Cycloramphus form a clade, with Bremer support 10. All the species with terrestrial reproduction are in the same clade with Bremer support 9. The topology is indicative of a unic origin of terrestriality from a stream dwelling ancestral. Based on the analysis, the changes to be proposed in the nomenclature would be to include Zachaenus as synonym of Cycloramphus, and to solve the secondary homonym between Zachaenus carvalhoi Izecksohn 1982 and Cycloramphus carvalhoi Heyer, 1983, rename the later as antenorcarvalhoi". Among the Leptodactylids the genus Thoropa is the probable sister group of Cycloramphus, and the Eleutherodactylines, considered closely related to Cycloramphus by some authors, are probably not. The distribution pattern of the species of Cycloramphus are indicative of strong association to high relief areas, with highest richness at South and Southeastern Brazil and a disjunct population at Southern Bahia. One of the possible routes once interconnecting these populations would have been the Serra do Espinhaço in wetter periods, when it was covered by Atlantic forest. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 01/05470-8 - Phylogenetic relationships among species of the genus Cycloramphus Tschudi, 1838 and Zachaenus Cope, 1866 (Anura, Leptodactylidae) |
| Grantee: | Vanessa Kruth Verdade |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |