The last of their kind: Is the genus Scutiger (Anura: Megophryidae) a relict element of the paleo-Transhimalaya biota?

Autor: Hofmann S; Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, 53113 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: s.hofmann@leibniz-lib.de., Podsiadlowski L; Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, 53113 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: l.podsiadlowski@leibniz-lib.de., Andermann T; Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: tobias.andermann@ebc.uu.se., Matschiner M; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, 0562 Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: michael.matschiner@nhm.uio.no., Baniya CB; Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur 44618, Kathmandu, Nepal., Litvinchuk SN; Institute of Cytology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Peterburg 194064, Russia., Martin S; Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, 53113 Bonn, Germany. Electronic address: s.martin@leibniz-lib.de., Masroor R; Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan., Yang J; Kadoorie Conservation China, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Hongkong, China. Electronic address: jhyang@kfbg.org., Zheng Y; Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China. Electronic address: zhengyc@cib.ac.cn., Jablonski D; Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: daniel.jablonski@uniba.sk., Schmidt J; General and Systematic Zoology, Institute of Biosciences, University of Rostock, 18055 Rostock, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution [Mol Phylogenet Evol] 2024 Dec; Vol. 201, pp. 108166. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 09.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108166
Abstrakt: The orographic evolution of the Himalaya-Tibet Mountain system continues to be a subject of controversy, leading to considerable uncertainty regarding the environment and surface elevation of the Tibetan Plateau during the Cenozoic era. As many geoscientific (but not paleontological) studies suggest, elevations close to modern heights exist in vast areas of Tibet since at least the late Paleogene, implicating the presence of large-scale alpine environments for more than 30 million years. To explore a recently proposed alternative model that assumes a warm temperate environment across paleo-Tibet, we carried out a phylogeographic survey using genomic analyses of samples covering the range of endemic lazy toads (Scutiger) across the Himalaya-Tibet orogen. We identified two main clades, with several, geographically distinct subclades. The long temporal gap between the stem and crown age of Scutiger may suggest high extinction rates. Diversification within the crown group, depending on the calibration, occurred either from the Mid-Miocene or Late-Miocene and continued until the Holocene. The present-day Himalayan Scutiger fauna could have evolved from lineages that existed on the southern edges of the paleo-Tibetan area (the Transhimalaya = Gangdese Shan), while extant species living on the eastern edge of the Plateau originated probably from the eastern edges of northern parts of the ancestral Tibetan area (Hoh Xil, Tanggula Shan). Based on the Mid-Miocene divergence time estimation and ancestral area reconstruction, we propose that uplift-associated aridification of a warm temperate Miocene-Tibet, coupled with high extirpation rates of ancestral populations, and species range shifts along drainage systems and epigenetic transverse valleys of the rising mountains, is a plausible scenario explaining the phylogenetic structure of Scutiger. This hypothesis aligns with the fossil record but conflicts with geoscientific concepts of high elevated Tibetan Plateau since the late Paleogene. Considering a Late-Miocene/Pliocene divergence time, an alternative scenario of dispersal from SE Asia into the East, Central, and West Himalaya cannot be excluded, although essential evolutionary and biogeographic aspects remain unresolved within this model.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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