title: Taxonomic relationships within the pan-oriental narrow-mouth toad Microhyla ornata as revealed by mtDNA analysis (Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae).
abstract: A molecular phylogenetic survey was conducted using mtDNA sequences of 12S and 16S rRNA, and cyt-b genes to examine taxonomic relationships among populations of the Pan-Oriental microhylid, Microhyla ornata, from India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, China, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan. Two discrete clades are recognized within this species, one consisting of populations from India and Bangladesh, and the other encompassing the remaining populations. In the latter clade, populations from the Ryukyu Archipelago are clearly split from the rest (populations from Taiwan and the continent) with considerable degrees of genetic differentiations. Each of the three lineages is judged to represent a good species, and the name Microhyla ornata is restricted to the South Asian populations. For the populations from Taiwan and a wide region from China to Southeast Asia, the name Microhyla fissipes should be applied, whereas the Ryukyu populations are most appropriately referred to as Microhyla okinavensis, although further substantial genetic differentiations are recognized among some island group populations within this last species.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Human and Environmenal Studies, Kyoto University.
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Hiroharu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Tomohiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Srinivas K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Saidapur
authors.forename: Wichase
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Khonsue
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka-Ueno
authors.forename: Guan-Fu
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001208:Asia; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003710:Demography; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D007564:Japan; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial