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Issue: Vol. 1780 No. 1: 30 May. 2008
Type: Article
Published: 2008-05-30
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1780.1.2
Page range: 55–68
Abstract views: 54
PDF downloaded: 32

A new species of clawed frog (genus Xenopus) from the Itombwe Massif, Democratic Republic of the Congo: implications for DNA barcodes and biodiversity conservation

Center for Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, McMaster University, Life Sciences Building Room 328, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1
Center for Environmental Genomics, Department of Biology, McMaster University, Life Sciences Building Room 328, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1
Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, Department of Integrative Biology, Science Complex Room 1454, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, BS8 1UG
Amphibia allopolyploid evolution Albertine Rift whole genome duplication advertisement calls DNA barcode 16S RAG1 RAG2

Abstract

Here we describe a new octoploid species of clawed frog from the Itombwe Massif of South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This new species is the sister taxon of Xenopus wittei, but is substantially diverged in morphology, male vocalization, and mitochondrial and autosomal DNA. Analysis of mitochondrial “DNA barcodes” in polyploid clawed frogs demonstrates that they are variable between most species, but also reveals limitations of this type of information for distinguishing closely related species of differing ploidy level. The discovery of this new species highlights the importance of the Itombwe Massif for conservation of African biodiversity south of the Sahara.

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