Phylogenetics and evolution of bell frogs (Litoria aurea species-group, Anura: Hylidae) based on mitochondrial ND4 sequences

Abstract

Membership of the Litoria aurea species-group (commonly known as the bell frogs) and relationships within this group are poorly understood. Courtice and Grigg (1975) described a bell frog species-group consisting of five species on the basis of morphology and a lack of hybridisation in areas of sympatry. This group comprised: (i) Litoria aurea (Lesson, 1829) and Litoria raniformis (Keferstein, 1867) from south-eastern New South Wales (NSW); (ii) Litoria flavipunctata (previously recognised as a geographically isolated population of Litoria aurea raniformis in the New England Tablelands of north-eastern NSW, reviewed in Courtice and Grigg, 1975); and psssss(iii) two western Australian species, Litoria cyclorhyncha (Boulenger, 1882) and Litoria moorei (Copland, 1957). Although the recognition of L. flavipunctata has not been challenged, the nomenclature is problematic. Cogger et al. (1983) synonymised L. flavipunctata and Hyla castanea (Steindachner, 1867) under Litoria castanea (Steindachner, 1867). This concept was later supported by Thomson et al., 1996 S.A. Thomson, M.J. Littlejohn, W.A. Robinson and W.S. Osborne, Taxonomy of the Litoria aurea complex: a re-evaluation of the Southern Tableland populations of the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, Aust. Zool. 30 (1996), pp. 158–169. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (11)Thomson et al. (1996) and is currently widely accepted.