Phylogenetic-Relationships in the Genus Limnodynastes (Anura, Myobatrachidae) - a Molecular Perspective

Abstract

Phylogenetic relationships among 10 of the 12 currently recognised species of Limnodynastes were investigated by the quantitative immunological technique of micro-complement fixation (MC'F). Analyses of albumin differentiation in Limnodynastes suggest that L. ornatus and L. spenceri are representatives of an independent lineage that emerged in the early Tertiary. We identify four additional lineages appearing in the early Oligocene (L. terraereginae, L. dumerili, L. dorsalis and probably L. interioris; L. tasmaniensis, L. fletcheri and L. peroni; L. salminr; and L. convexiusculus). Our data do not support the recognition of Platyplectron (Heyer & Liem, 1976) as a separate genus. Members of Platyplectron are more closely related to various groupings within Limnodynastes than they are to other burrowing genera (Heleioporus, Notaden and Neobatrachus). Analyses of geographically widespread populations of L. ornatus, L. tasmaniensis, L. peroni and of the subspecies of L. dumerili indicate degrees of genetic differentiation which are correlated with distance.