Xenopus fraseri: Mr. Fraser, where did your frog come from?

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220892
• Publication Date: 2019-09-11T17:37:06Z
• Authors: Ben J. Evans; Marie-Theres Gans...; Edward L. Stanley; Benjamin L. S. Fu...; Caroline M. S. Ca...; Caleb Ofori-Boateng; Václav Gvoždík; Jeffrey W. Streicher; Eli Greenbaum; Richard C. Tinsley; Matthias Meyer; David C. Blackburn
• Keywords: Phylogenomics

A comprehensive, accurate, and revisable alpha taxonomy is crucial for biodiversity studies, but challenging when data from reference specimens are difficult to collect or observe. However, recent technological advances can overcome some of these challenges. To illustrate this, we used modern approaches tackle a centuries-old taxonomic enigma presented by Fraser's Clawed Frog, Xenopus fraseri, including whether X. fraseri different other species, if so, where it situated geographically phylogenetically. facilitate inferences, high-resolution techniques examine morphological variation, generated analyzed complete mitochondrial genome sequences all >150-year-old type specimens. Our results demonstrate that indeed distinct firmly place this species within phylogenetic context, identify its minimal geographic distribution in northern Ghana Cameroon. These also permit novel resolution into intensively studied biomedically important group. was formerly thought be rainforest endemic placed alongside the amieti group; fact occurs arid habitat on borderlands Sahel, smallest member muelleri This study illustrates frog combined consequence sparse collection records, interspecies conservation intraspecific polymorphism external anatomy, with unusual morphology.