Sistemática e padrões de diversidade do grupo Boana punctata (Anura: Hylidae): história evolutiva e implicações taxonômicas

Abstract

The Neotropical region is the most biodiverse in the world, and the factors that influenced the origin of such a high diversity are inexhaustible sources of research. Among the terrestrial vertebrates, amphibians are one of the most diverse groups, and 43% of all known species occur in the Neotropics. However, there are still many knowledge gaps regarding species richness due to high levels of cryptic diversity and large unknown geographic regions. However, the use of molecular data in integrative taxonomy approaches associating species delimitation methods and phenotypic data helps to clarify the limits of species distribution, broadening the debate about patterns of diversification, taxonomy and evolutionary history of Neotropical anurans. The Boana punctata group has several of these knowledge shortfalls; whether related to group systematics, phylogeny and taxonomy, or to patterns of cryptic diversity in well-known species with wide distribution, such as the Boana cinerascens and Boana punctata complexes and their taxonomic issues. Thus, the lack of refined knowledge about the phylogenetic relationships of these poorly known species of the Boana punctata group, and the lack of phylogenetic and taxonomic clarification in the B. punctata complex are object of study in this thesis that had as results: Cap 1- Based on mitochondrial DNA sequences, morphological data, we provide new information on phylogenetic relationships, morphological variations and geographical distribution. Such results reveal that B. hobbsi is related to the Boana benitezi group, polyphyletic to B. punctata. Supported by this, we propose a new taxonomic arrangement that includes B. hobbsi as a member of the B. benitezi group; Cap 2- Using 16S rDNA gene sequences from the B. punctata and species delimitation methods in an integrative taxonomy approach, we discovered six well supported lineages delimited as operational taxonomic unities (OTUs). Which consists in, one unconfirmed candidate species, five confirmed candidate species of which two correspond to recognized taxa: thus, we delimit B. punctata Senso Strictu, Boana atlantica, and elevate

Boana rubrolineata to full species status. Cap 3- With genomic data obtained by next- generation sequencing (NGS) and discovery analyses we were able to delimit putative species

and perform a molecular dating analysis, revealing a higher cryptic diversity, than observed in our Cap. 2 study. Our results confirmed seven candidate species co by genetic and morphological data. Of these, three represent the nominal taxa B. punctata, B. atlantica and B. rubrolinetata; and the remaining lineages correspond to four candidate species. Molecular dating analyses show a diversification of the B. punctata complex beginning in the late Miocene followed by subsequent events throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene.