Paleotemperatures and recurrent habitat shifts drive diversification of treefrogs across distinct biodiversity hotspots in sub-Amazonian South America

Aim: We investigate the biogeographic history and diversification in a treefrog lineage distributed in contrasting (open and forested) ecoregions of South America, including three biodiversity hotspots. We evaluate the role of dispersal and whether other factors such as diversity-dependence or paleotemperatures could explain the diversification pattern for this group. Especially focusing on the savanna endemics, we illuminate on processes governing the species assembly and evolution of the Cerrado savanna.

Location: South American ecoregions south of the Amazon (e.g. Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Araucaria Forest, Pampas, Central and Southern Andes).

Taxon: Boana pulchella group.

Methods: We built the most complete time-calibrated phylogeny for the group to date. We then reconstructed ancestral ranges using the dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis (DEC) model comparing different dispersal scenarios considering distance, adjacency and ecological similarity among regions. A center-of-or...