A combined approach of mitochondrial DNA and anchored nuclear phylogenomics sheds light on unrecognized diversity, phylogeny, and historical biogeography of the cascade frogs, genus Amolops (Anura: Ranidae)

Amolops is one of the most species-rich genera in Ranidae, with 59 recognized species. This genus currently includes six species groups diagnosed mainly by morphology. Several recent molecular studies indicated that the classification of species groups within Amolops remains controversial, and key nodes in the phylogeny have been inadequately resolved. In addition, the diversity of cascade frogs remains poorly understood, especially for those from incompletely sampled regions. Herein, we investigate the species-level diversity within genus Amolops throughout southern China and Southeast Asia, and infer evolutionary relationships among the species using mtDNA data (16S, COI, and ND2). Molecular analyses indicate nine new unnamed species, mostly distributed in the Himalayas. We then utilized anchored hybrid enrichment to generate a dataset representing major mitochondrial lineages to resolve phylogenetic relationships, biogeography, and pattern of species diversification. Our resulting ph...