Population diversification in the frog Mantidactylus bellyi on an isolated massif in northern Madagascar based on genetic, morphological, bioacoustic and ecological evidence
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In the processes that give rise to new species, changes first occur at the population level. But with the continuous nature of the divergence process, change in biological properties delimiting the shift from “individuals of divergent populations” towards “individuals of distinct species”, as well as abiotic factors driving the change, remain largely ambivalent. Here we study diversification processes at the population level in a semi-aquatic frog, Mantidactylus (Brygoomantis) bellyi, across the diverse vegetation types of Montagne d'Ambre National Park (MANP), Madagascar. Genetic diversity was assessed with seven newly developed microsatellite markers as well as mitochondrial DNA sequences and concordance with patterns of ecological, morphological, and bioacoustic divergence evaluated. We found M. bellyi lacking mitochondrial differentiation within MANP, while microsatellite datasets partitioned them into three highly differentiated, geographically separated subpopulations (with indications for up to five subpopulations). The molecular grouping-primarily clustering individuals by geographic proximity-was coincident with differences in mean depth and width of waters, suggesting a possible role of fluvial characteristics in genetic exchange in this stream-breeding species. Genetic clustering not consistent with differences in call properties, except for dominant call frequencies under the two-subpopulations model. Morphological divergence was mostly consistent with the genetic clustering; subpopulations strongly differed by their snout-vent length, with individuals from high-elevation subpopulations smaller than those from populations below 1000 m above sea level. These results exemplify how mountains and environmental conditions might primarily shape genetic and morphological divergence in frog populations, without strongly affecting their calls.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0263764 |
| Journal | Plos One |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:
The data collection was funded by National Geographic Society (https://www. nationalgeographic.org, grant number WW-121ER-17) to SMR and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (https://www.dfg.de, grant VE 247/13-1) to MV and MDS. The laboratory work and analyses were funded by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (https:// www.daad.de/en, DAAD, Research Grants - Short-Term Grants, 2019 (57440917)) and National Geographic Society (grant number WW-121ER-17) to SMR, and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant VE 247/13-1) to MV and MDS. Association Vahatra (http://www. vahatra.mg) was funded by Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (https://helmsleytrust. org) under the program 'Development of scientist capacity for Malagasy conservation biologists' and scholarships granted by Jai Shekhawat. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. We thank the Malagasy government for permits to carry out the research, collect samples, and export these to Germany for analysis. We are thankful to local guides at Montagne d'Ambre, especially Justin Miharimanana, and the entire team for their assistance in the field. We are indebted to Steven M. Bogdanowicz (Cornell University) for his reliable service in microsatellite library development, and to Gabriele Keunecke, Meike Kondermann, Jessica Scheibel, Dominik St?tzer and Giannina Koziel for laboratory support and help with the molecular analyses. We also thank Rakotomalala Yedidya Ratovonamana for his valuable comments in the methodology and the analyses of our ecological data. An earlier version of this manuscript was improved after insightful comments from two anonymous reviewers.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022 Rasolonjatovo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
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