Lineage diversification of the Sky Island treefrog Scinax curicica (Anura, Hylidae) in the Espinhaço Mountain Range

Abstract

Abstract Sky Islands present unique landscapes for organismal evolution because they comprise high mountain peaks separated by low valleys with vastly different environmental conditions. The Espinhaço Mountain Range in eastern Brazil is formed of groups of Sky Islands in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. Several phylogeographic studies have discovered strong genetic structure among populations of organisms occupying the campo rupestre (rupestrian fields) in the mountains of the Espinhaço. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis of spatio-temporal structuring of populations of Scinax curicica in the campo rupestre of the Espinhaço. We recovered three lineages of S. curicica: one lineage occurs in the north portion of the Espinhaço (North Lineage) in an area called Chapada Diamantina, and other two occur in the south portion of the Espinhaço (South 1 and South 2 Lineages) in Minas Gerais. All three lineages showed stable population sizes through time, probably due to the climatic stability of mountaintop areas, which was supported by ecological niche modelling.