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Topic: Articles
NEWS RELEASE
The Center for North American Herpetology
Lawrence, Kansas
http://www.cnah.org
30 June 2008
SPECIES LIMITS AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICAN CRICKET FROGS (ACRIS:
HYLIDAE)
Tony Gamble, Peter B. Berendzen, H. Bradley Shaffer, David E. Starkey, Andrew M. Simons
2008. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 112–125
Abstract: Cricket Frogs are widely distributed across the eastern United States and two
species, the Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans) and the Southern Cricket Frog (A.
gryllus) are currently recognized. We generated a phylogenetic hypothesis for Acris using
fragments of nuclear and mitochondrial genes in separate and combined phylogenetic
analyses. We also used distance methods and fixation indices to evaluate species limits
within the genus and the validity of currently recognized subspecies of A. crepitans. The
distributions of existing A. crepitans subspecies, defined by morphology and call types, do
not match the distributions of evolutionary lineages recovered using our genetic data. We
discuss a scenario of call evolution to explain this disparity. We also recovered distinct
phylogeographic groups within A. crepitans and A. gryllus that are congruent with other
codistributed taxa. Under a lineage-based species concept, we recognize Acris blanchardi
as a distinct species. The importance of this revised taxonomy is discussed in light of the
dramatic declines in A. blanchardi across the northern and western portions of its range.
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CNAH Note: Standard common names for the three species of Cricket Frogs remain:
Acris blanchardi – Blanchard’s Cricket Frog
Acris crepitans – Northern Cricket Frog
Acris gryllus – Southern Cricket Frog
In this paper, the subspecies, Acris crepitans paludicola, was synonymized with Acris
crepitans.
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A gratis PDF of this article is available from the CNAH PDF Library at
http://www.cnah.org/cnah_pdf.asp
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