Phylogeography and Cryptic Species Diversity of Paramesotriton caudopunctatus Species Group (Salamandridae: Paramesotriton) in Guizhou, China

• Published in: Asian Herpetological Research Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 188 - 200
• Main Authors: Luo, Tao, Wen, Huamei, Gao, Kai, Zhou, Jun, Zhou, Jiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sichuan Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 01.01.2021; School of Karst Science,Guizhou Normal University,Guiyang 550001,Guizhou,China%School of Karst Science,Guizhou Normal University,Guiyang 550001,Guizhou,China; School of Life Sciences,Central China Normal University,Wuhan 430000,Hubei,China%Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Ecological Engineering of Ministry of Education,College of Life Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Beijing 100875,China
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biogeography; Dehydrogenases; Dispersal; Divergence; Ecosystems; Endangered & extinct species; Genes; Miocene; Mitochondria; Mountains; Paramesotriton caudopunctatus; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Pleistocene; Proopiomelanocortin; Reptiles & amphibians; Species diversity; Taxonomy; Wumeng Mountains; China; species delimitation; P. caudopunctatus species group; cryptic diversity; biogeography; Guizhou; phylogeography
• ISSN: 2095-0357
• DOI: 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.200025

The Paramesotriton caudopunctatus species group is mainly distributed in the karst mountain ecosystems of Guizhou, China. Although some species have been included in previous phylogenetic studies, the evolutionary relationships and divergence-time of members of this species group as a whole remain unexplored. In this study, we report the sequencing of one protein coding mitochondrial gene fragment (ND2) and one nuclear gene (POMC), and use a combination of phylogenetic analyses and coalescent simulations to explore the cryptic diversity and evolutionary history of the P. caudopunctatus species group. Phylogenetic relationships revealed that the P. caudopunctatus species group is composed of two major groups, i. e., East Clade and Western-South Clade. The divergence-time and ancestral area estimation suggested that the P. caudopunctatus species group likely originated in the Doupeng Mountains in Guizhou, China at 12.34 Ma (95% HPD: 8.30-14.73), and intraspecific divergence began at about 2.17 Ma (95% HPD: 139-2.97). This timing coincides with the orogenesis of the Miaoling Mountains during the Late Miocene to early Pleistocene. The delimitation of species in the P. caudopunctatus species group supports the existence of the currently identified species, and consensus was confirmed across methods for the existence of least to two cryptic species within what has been traditionally considered to be P. caudopunctatus species group. This study is of significance for understanding the species formation, dispersal, and diversity of the tailed amphibians in the karst mountains ecosystem of Guizhou and the role of the Miaoling Mountains as a geographical barrier to species dispersal.