Spatiotemporal Diversification of the True Frogs (Genus Rana): A Historical Framework for a Widely Studied Group of Model Organisms.
True frogs of the genus Rana are widely used as model organisms in studies of development, genetics, physiology, ecology, behavior, and evolution. Comparative studies among the more than 100 species of Rana rely on an understanding of the evolutionary history and patterns of diversification of the group. We estimate a well-resolved, time-calibrated phylogeny from sequences of six nuclear and three mitochondrial loci sampled from most species of Rana, and use that phylogeny to clarify the group's diversification and global biogeography. Our analyses consistently support an "Out of Asia" pattern with two independent dispersals of Rana from East Asia to North America via Beringian land bridges. The more species-rich lineage of New World Rana appears to have experienced a rapid radiation following its colonization of the New World, especially with its expansion into montane and tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, and South America. In contrast, Old World Rana exhibit different trajectories of diversification; diversification in the Old World began very slowly and later underwent a distinct increase in speciation rate around 29-18 Ma. Net diversification is associated with environmental changes and especially intensive tectonic movements along the Asian margin from the Oligocene to early Miocene. Our phylogeny further suggests that previous classifications were misled by morphological homoplasy and plesiomorphic color patterns, as well as a reliance primarily on mitochondrial genes. We provide a phylogenetic taxonomy based on analyses of multiple nuclear and mitochondrial gene loci. [Amphibians; biogeography; diversification rate; Holarctic; transcontinental dispersal.
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204, Yunnan.
Zhi-Yong
ZY
Yuan
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan.
Wei-Wei
WW
Zhou
Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, HN 03755, USA.
Xin
X
Chen
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, GSP-1, Moscow 119991, Russia.
Nikolay A
NA
Poyarkov
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan.
Hong-Man
HM
Chen
Animal Department, Taipei Zoo, 30 Xinguang Road, Sec. 2, Taipei 11656, Taiwan.
Nian-Hong
NH
Jang-Liaw
Department of Zoology, National Museum of Natural Science, 1st Kuang-Chien Road, Taichung 40453, Taiwan.
Wen-Hao
WH
Chou
Division of Ecology, Evolution, and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, ACT 2601, Australia.
Nicholas J
NJ
Matzke
Kanda-Hitotsubashi JH School, 2-16-14 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0003, Japan.
Koji
K
Iizuka
Conservation Genome Resource Bank for Korean Wildlife (CGRB), Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, 151-742 Seoul, South Korea.
Mi-Sook
MS
Min
Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119234, Russia.
Sergius L
SL
Kuzmin
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan.
Ya-Ping
YP
Zhang
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
David C
DC
Cannatella
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
David M
DM
Hillis
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, and Yunnan Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan.
Jing
J
Che
D000569:Americas; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005202:Asia, Eastern; D010802:Phylogeny; D011898:Ranidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA