title: Frankixalus, a New Rhacophorid Genus of Tree Hole Breeding Frogs with Oophagous Tadpoles.
abstract: Despite renewed interest in the biogeography and evolutionary history of Old World tree frogs (Rhacophoridae), this family still includes enigmatic frogs with ambiguous phylogenetic placement. During fieldwork in four northeastern states of India, we discovered several populations of tree hole breeding frogs with oophagous tadpoles. We used molecular data, consisting of two nuclear and three mitochondrial gene fragments for all known rhacophorid genera, to investigate the phylogenetic position of these new frogs. Our analyses identify a previously overlooked, yet distinct evolutionary lineage of frogs that warrants recognition as a new genus and is here described as Frankixalus gen. nov. This genus, which contains the enigmatic 'Polypedates' jerdonii described by Günther in 1876, forms the sister group of a clade containing Kurixalus, Pseudophilautus, Raorchestes, Mercurana and Beddomixalus. The distinctiveness of this evolutionary lineage is also corroborated by the external morphology of adults and tadpoles, adult osteology, breeding ecology, and life history features.
authors.affiliation: Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Biju
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Gayani
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Senevirathne
authors.affiliation: Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.
authors.forename: Sonali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.|School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahony
authors.affiliation: Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.|Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rachunliu G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.affiliation: Systematics Lab, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.|Department of Environmental Studies, Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110 007, India.
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Microbial Culture Collection, National Center for Cell Science, NCCS Complex, Pune University Campus, Ganeshkhind, Pune, 411 007, India.
authors.forename: Yogesh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shouche
authors.affiliation: Herpetology Department, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York, 10024, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Raxworthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: Madhava
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meegaskumbura
authors.affiliation: Amphibian Evolution Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Bocxlaer
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D007814:Larva / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D004247:DNA