Call a spade a spade: taxonomy and distribution of Pelobates, with description of a new Balkan endemic.

ABSTRACT: The genomic era contributes to update the taxonomy of many debated terrestrial vertebrates. In an accompanying work, we provided a comprehensive molecular assessment of spadefoot toads (Pelobates) using genomic data. Our results call for taxonomic updates in this group. First, nuclear phylogenomics confirmed the species-level divergence between the Iberian P.cultripes and its Moroccan relative P.varaldii. Second, we inferred that P.fuscus and P.vespertinus, considered subspecies until recently, feature partial reproductive isolation and thus deserve a specific level. Third, we evidenced cryptic speciation and diversification among deeply diverged lineages collectively known as Pelobatessyriacus. Populations from the Near East correspond to the East

SUBMITTER: Dufresnes C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6616056 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature