Ancestral reconstruction of reproductive traits shows no tendency toward terrestriality in leptodactyline frogs.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Traditionally, the evolution of terrestrial reproduction in anurans from ancestors that bred in water has been accepted in the literature. Still, the existence of intermediate stages of water dependency, such as species that lay eggs close to water (e.g., in burrows) instead of in bodies of water, supports the hypothesis of an ordered and gradual evolution in the direction of a more terrestrial form of reproduction. However, this conventional view has recently been challenged for some anurans groups. Leptodactylinae frogs are a remarkable example of anurans with an outstanding diversity in terms of reproductive features, with distinct water dependency among lineages. Here, we tested the hypothesis of a gradual and ordered tendency towards terrestriality in Leptodactylina

SUBMITTER: Pereira EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4437749 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature