Phylogenetic studies on hylid frogs: from the trunk to the tips

Resumo

The family Hylidae comprises nearly 800 described species divided into three subfamilies (Hylinae, Pelodryadinae, and Phyllomedusinae) and was the recent subject of an extensive phylogenetic study (Faivovich et al., 2005) that included multiple taxonomic changes. Among these, Hylinae, the most speciose subfamily, has been divided into four tribes: Cophomantini, Dendropsophini, Hylini, and Lophiohylini. Of these, Dendropsophini is the less supported as assessed by different measures, and the one that had been the less sampled (only 40 of its nearly 200 species included). Primary goals of this project include (1) To reinforce weak areas of the tree with additional sequences, (2) to start increasing the sampling of the multiple genera that are represented by few species or whose representation did not cover the morphological and biological diversity of the taxonomic unit, (3) in general, to increase the taxonomic sampling to begin to understand interspecific relationships in some of the various groups. These goals are specifically related with Dendropsophini, in that we expect to (1) present a stronger test of its monophyly, and (2 and 3), to increase significantly our sampling of the genera Dendropsophus, Scinax, and Sphaenorhynchus. Also, connected with Goals (2) and (3) we expect to solve problems regarding relationships of the Bokermannohyla claresignata group within Cophomantini, and to address some pending issues within Phyllomedusinae. (AU)