title: Mitochondrial DNA diversification, molecular phylogeny, and biogeography of the primitive rhacophorid genus Buergeria in East Asia.
abstract: In this study we sought to clarify the evolutionary relationships and biogeographic history of the bell-ring frog, Buergeria buergeri (family Rhacophoridae), and two congeneric species Buergeria japonica and Buergeria robusta, by analyzing three mitochondrial (mt) genes: 12S rRNA, Cytb, and ND5. Phylogenetic analyses based on gene data showed the mt clades corresponding to the Buergeria species and three major haplogroups within B. buergeri. Each haplogroup corresponded clearly to the area in which it was distributed, namely eastern Japan (excluding Hokkaido; Hg I), central Japan (Hg II), and western Japan (including the Shikoku and Kyushu regions; Hg III). The estimated divergence time suggested that the lineage splits of the Buergeria species occurred before the formation of the island of Taiwan and the Japan Archipelago (including the Ryukyu islands). The differentiation among the genealogical lineages of B. buergeri seems to have begun in the Late Miocene (approx. 7-5Mya), and the formation of their present distribution pattern might have been influenced by climatic changes and geographical events such as the formation of a wide peneplane and expansions of certain basins.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Amphibian Biology, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima 739-8526, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurabayashi
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kunihara
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Tamotsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sumida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D057231:Climate Change; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D011898:Ranidae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D045303:Cytochromes b; D009245:NADH Dehydrogenase