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Cryptic diversity in Chortís Highland moss salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Nototriton ) revealed using mtDNA barcodes and phylogenetics, with a new species from eastern Honduras

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/14772000.2011.611188

1478-0933

Josiah H. Townsend, Melissa Medina-Flores, JORGE LUIS MURILLO, James D. Austin,

Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Abstract The systematic study of Central American moss salamanders has been a challenge to researchers due to their cryptic nature and subsequent difficulty in sampling. In an effort to elucidate relationships among moss salamanders from the Chortís Highlands, we quantified intra- and interspecific variation using data from the mitochondrial genes 16S (the amphibian barcoding gene), cytochrome b (cyt b; widely used in phylogenetic studies of neotropical salamanders), and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI, the universal metazoan barcoding gene). All three loci exhibit a bimodal ‘barcoding gap’ between ranges of intra- and interspecific variation, demonstrating unambiguous species boundaries with respect to the mitochondrial loci. A barcoding approach and Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of the mtDNA dataset revealed that the nominal species N. barbouri represents a species complex, with two of three populations assigned to this taxon being paraphyletic with respect to a sample from the type locality. These data also revealed an undescribed species from eastern Honduras, and confirmed the identity of allopatric populations of N. lignicola and N. limnospectator. Sequence data from cyt b presented an analytical challenge due to a high level of substitution saturation at the third codon position for some samples. Phylogenetic analyses of the entire dataset including and omitting the third position of cyt b resulted in conflicting results with respect to the position of the new species and N. tomamorum. Based on the molecular data, supplemented with data from external morphology and osteology, we formally describe a new species from Sierra de Agalta. Key words: cloud forestCOIcyt b DNA barcodingendemic Nototriton picucha sp. nov.Nuclear Central Americaspecies delimitationsubstitution saturation16S Acknowledgements Research and export permits were furnished by Carla Cárcamo de Martínez, Saíd Laínez and Iris Acosta O. (Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre [ICF]) and fieldwork was completed under ICF permits Resolución DE-MP-086-2010 and Dictamen DVS-ICF-045-2010. Fieldwork in 2008 and 2009 was support by a grant from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund to JHT, and fieldwork in 2010 was supported by Kirsten Nicholson (Central Michigan University) and a grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB-0949359 to Nicholson). Eduardo Rico (ICF office, Gualaco) and guardabosque Juan Miguel Soto provided critical logistical support for our work in the Sierra de Agalta. Don Isidro Zúniga (Babilonia) also aided in the exploration of the Sierra de Agalta, and shared his considerable knowledge of the forest therein. We thank Sean Rovito (Museum of Vertebrate Zoology), Eric Smith (University of Texas, Arlington) and Scott Travers (Villanova University) for providing additional samples for use in our analyses. Amy Driskell, Dan Mulcahy and Andrea Ormos (Smithsonian Institution Laboratory of Analytical Biology) contributed some of the raw COI sequence data as part of the project ‘Barcoding the Herpetofauna of Eastern Nuclear Central America’. We thank Steve Gotte (USNM) for accessioning the type series, and Jeremy Jacobs and Kenneth Tighe (USNM) for assistance in operating the digital X-ray. John Hargrove, Ileana Luque-Montes and Larry David Wilson provided helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript. Associate Editor: Barry Clarke