Molecular insights into the phylogenetic placement of the poorly known genus Niceforonia Goin and Cochran, 1963 (Anura: Brachycephaloidea)

Among New World direct-developing frogs belonging to the clade Brachycephaloidea (= Terraranae), there are several genera with uncertain phylogenetic placements. One notable example is the genus _Niceforonia_ Goin & Cochran 1963, which includes three species that are endemic to Colombia. Three specimens of the species _Niceforonia nana_ were collected and for the first time the genus is included in a molecular phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial (mtDNA; 12S and 16S) and nuclear (nucDNA; TYR and RAG1) markers. Molecular phylogenetic inference based on concatenated and separate mtDNA and nucDNA analyses recovered _Niceforonia nana_ nested within Hypodactylus Hedges et al. 2008, rendering the latter genus paraphyletic. Consequently, herein we place the genus _Hypodactylus_ in the synonymy of _Niceforonia_ to resolve the paraphyly and place _Niceforonia_ in the subfamily Hypodactylinae. Based on our revised concept of the genus _Niceforonia_ we conducted preliminary morphological comparisons using specimens and literature descriptions. _Niceforonia nana_ is quite divergent from other species of _Niceforonia_ (uncorrected genetic distances of ca. 10% 16S and 7% TYR) suggesting that further taxonomic revision may be warranted.

在隶属于短头蛙总科（Brachycephaloidea，即Terraranae）的新大陆直接发育蛙类中，存在多个系统发育位置尚未明确的属。其中典型代表为尼斯福罗尼亚蛙属（Niceforonia），由Goin与Cochran于1963年命名，该属包含3种仅分布于哥伦比亚的特有物种。研究人员采集了3份尼斯福罗尼亚小蛙（Niceforonia nana）的标本，并首次将该属纳入基于线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA，mtDNA；12S与16S基因）和核DNA（nuclear DNA，nucDNA；TYR基因与RAG1基因）标记的分子系统发育分析。基于拼接序列以及单独的线粒体DNA、核DNA分析的分子系统发育推断结果显示，尼斯福罗尼亚小蛙嵌套于Hypodactylus属（Hedges等，2008）内部，导致后者成为并系群。为此，本研究将Hypodactylus属归入尼斯福罗尼亚蛙属的同物异名，以解决并系问题，并将尼斯福罗尼亚蛙属置于Hypodactylinae亚科之下。基于修订后的尼斯福罗尼亚蛙属界定标准，研究人员利用标本与文献描述开展了初步形态学比较。尼斯福罗尼亚小蛙与该属的其他物种存在显著遗传分化（16S基因未校正遗传距离约为10%，TYR基因约为7%），提示后续有必要开展进一步的分类学修订。