Data from: A phylogeny and evolutionary natural history of Mesoamerican toads (Anura: Bufonidae: Incilius) based on morphology, life history, and molecular data

We combine mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data with non-molecular (morphological and natural history) data to conduct phylogenetic analyses and generate an evolutionary hypothesis for the relationships among nearly every species of Mesoamerican bufonid in the genus Incilius. We collected a total of 5,898 aligned base-pairs (bp) of sequence data from mitochondrial (mtDNA: 12S–16S, cyt b, ND2–CO1, including tRNAsTRP–TYR and the origin of light strand replication; total 4,317 bp) and nuclear (CXCR4 and RAG1; total 1,581 bp) loci from 52 individuals representing 37 species. For the non-molecular data, we collected 44 characters from 29 species. We also include Crepidophryne, a genus that has not previously been included in molecular analyses. We present results of parsimony and Bayesian analyses for these data separately and combined. Relationships based on the non-molecular data were poorly supported and did not resolve a monophyletic Incilius (Rhinella marina was nested within). Our molecular data provide significant support to most of the relationships. Our combined analyses demonstrate that inclusion of a considerably smaller dataset (44 vs. 5,898 characters) of non-molecular characters can provide significant support where the molecular relationships were lacking support. Our combined results indicate that Crepidophryne is nested within Incilius; therefore, we place the former in the synonymy of the latter taxon. Our study provides the most comprehensive evolutionary framework for Mesoamerican bufonids (Incilius), which we use as a starting point to invoke discussion on the evolution of their unique natural history traits.

本研究结合线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）、核DNA序列数据与非分子数据（形态学及自然历史数据）开展系统发育分析，针对中美洲蟾蜍科溪蟾属（Incilius）几乎所有物种间的演化关系构建演化假说。本研究共采集得到5898个比对后的碱基对（base-pair, bp）序列数据，其中线粒体基因位点（mtDNA：12S–16S、细胞色素b（cyt b）、ND2–CO1，包含tRNA^TRP–tRNA^TYR及轻链复制起点，总长4317 bp）与核基因位点（CXCR4与RAG1，总长1581 bp）的序列来自52个个体，涵盖37个物种。非分子数据方面，本研究从29个物种中获取了44个性状。此外，本研究纳入了此前从未被纳入分子分析的Crepidophryne属。我们分别基于分子数据、非分子数据及合并数据集开展简约法与贝叶斯分析，并展示各分析结果。基于非分子数据得到的物种演化关系支持度极低，且未能确立单系的溪蟾属（Incilius）——海蟾蜍（Rhinella marina）嵌套于该属内部。分子数据为多数分支关系提供了显著支持。合并分析结果表明，尽管非分子数据集的性状数量（44个）远小于分子数据集（5898个），但仍可在分子数据支持不足的分支处提供显著支持。合并分析结果显示Crepidophryne属嵌套于溪蟾属（Incilius）内，因此我们将前者定为后者的同物异名。本研究为中美洲蟾蜍科溪蟾属（Incilius）提供了迄今最全面的演化框架，并以此为起点展开关于其独特自然历史性状演化的讨论。