Delineating Microhyla ornata (Anura, Microhylidae): mitochondrial DNA barcodes resolve century-old taxonomic misidentification.

ABSTRACT: Microhyla ornata, a species originally described from the southwest coast of India in 1841, was long reported to be wide-ranging throughout South, Southeast, and East Asia. Although the name M. ornata is restricted to populations from South Asia, the species is still considered to occur widely in India and its neighboring regions. To clarify the identity and geographical distribution of M. 'ornata', we performed DNA barcoding using a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene from 62 newly obtained samples. Our results show that this taxon is restricted to Peninsular India and Sri Lanka, whereas, populations from the other parts represent three different species - M. mukhlesuri, M. mymensinghensis, and M. nilphamariensis, creating ne

SUBMITTER: Garg S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7800528 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature