Data from: Brazilian marsupial frogs are diphyletic (Anura: Hemiphractidae: Gastrotheca)

Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on expanded taxonomic and geographic sampling support the monophyly of the marsupial frog genera (family Hemiphractidae), resolve six geographically circumscribed lineages within Gastrotheca, and, for the first time, reveal that two divergent lineages of Gastrotheca inhabit the Atlantic Coastal Forests of Brazil. Within Gastrotheca, the earliest diverging clade is confined to northeastern Brazil, whereas the three subsequent diverging lineages are restricted to northern Venezuela (G. walkeri), southeastern Brazil, and northwestern South America. All species in these clades inhabit humid forests at low to mid-elevations, and their life histories are characterized by lacking free-living tadpoles (i.e., direct development). Two derived clades inhabit the Andes, and both contain species with either direct development or tadpoles. One Andean clade of Gastrotheca ranges in the high Andes from Colombia to extreme northern Peru, whereas the other clade inhabits high elevations in the Andes of southern Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and lower elevations in the Andes of northwestern Argentina. The presence of two non-sister lineages on each side of the Amazon Basin suggests that vicariance across this central region played an important role in diversification within Gastrotheca.

基于扩大分类群与地理采样范围的分子系统发育分析，支持了囊蛙科（Hemiphractidae）袋蛙属类群的单系性，厘清了沟蛙属（Gastrotheca）内6个地理限定的演化支，并首次揭示沟蛙属内两个分化显著的演化支栖息于巴西大西洋沿岸森林。在沟蛙属中，最早分化的演化支仅分布于巴西东北部，而后续分化的3个演化支分别局限于委内瑞拉北部（沃克沟蛙G. walkeri）、巴西东南部以及南美洲西北部。该类群所有物种均栖息于中低海拔湿润森林，其生活史以无自由生活蝌蚪为特征（即直接发育）。另有两个衍生演化支栖息于安第斯山脉，二者均包含具有直接发育或蝌蚪阶段的物种。其中一个沟蛙属安第斯演化支分布于哥伦比亚至秘鲁极北部的安第斯高海拔区域，另一个演化支则栖息于厄瓜多尔南部、秘鲁及玻利维亚的安第斯高海拔区域，以及阿根廷西北部的安第斯低海拔区域。亚马孙盆地两侧各存在两个非姊妹演化支，这表明该中部区域的地理隔离分化在沟蛙属的物种分化过程中发挥了重要作用。