The karyotypes of five species of the Scinax perpusillus group (Amphibia, Anura, Hylidae) of southeastern Brazil show high levels of chromosomal stabilization in this taxon.
Based on morphological, bioacoustics, and morphological traits, the genus Scinax has been subdivided into two major clades: S. catharinae and S. ruber. The first clade includes S. catharinae and S. perpusillus groups, whereas the second clade includes S. rostratus and S. uruguayus groups. Chromosome morphology, NOR and C-banding patterns of variation support these clades. This study aims the cytogenetic characterization of five species currently included in the S. perpusillus group: Scinax sp. (gr. perpusillus), S. arduous, S. belloni, S. cosenzai, and S. v-signatus, including standard cytogenetic techniques and repetitive DNA FISH probes. All species had 2n = 24 chromosomes. Nucleolar organizing regions occurred in chromosome pair 6 in all species, but differed in their locations among some species, suggesting a putative synaponomastic character for the clade. In S. belloni, the first chromosome pair was a metacentric, contrasting with the submetacentric first pair reported in all other species of the genus. Scinax sp. (gr. perpusillus) and S. v-signatus had similar karyotypic formulae, suggesting they are related species. Scinax cosenzai had a divergent C-banding pattern. Repetitive DNA probes hybridized more frequently in chromosomal subtelomeric regions in all species indicating recent cladogenesis in these species. Karyotypic evidence indicates unreported high levels of stabilization within S. perpusillus and in S. catharinae clade, resulting in a wealth of characters potentially informative for higher phylogenetic analyses.
Museu de Zoologia João Moojen, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil. marco.peixotom@gmail.com.|Laboratório de Sistemática Molecular - Beagle, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil. marco.peixotom@gmail.com.
Marco Antônio Amorim
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0564-7068
MA
Peixoto
Museu de Zoologia João Moojen, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil.|Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos, 6627 Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Brazil.
João Victor Andrade
JV
Lacerda
Museu de Zoologia João Moojen, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil.|Laboratório de Sistemática Molecular - Beagle, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil.
Carolina
C
Coelho-Augusto
Museu de Zoologia João Moojen, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil.
Renato Neves
RN
Feio
Laboratório de Sistemática Molecular - Beagle, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, CEP 36570-000, Brazil.
Jorge Abdala
JA
Dergam
D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001938:Brazil; D043171:Chromosomal Instability; D059785:Karyotype; D007621:Karyotyping; D013045:Species Specificity
Bromeligenous species; Cytotaxonomy; FISH; Microsatellites; Repetitive elements