The Role of Gene Flow in the Diversification of the Monkey Treefrog Complex Across the South American Dry Diagonal

Abstract

Understanding Neotropical megadiversity remains challenging due to fundamental taxonomic issues, including identifying and describing cryptic species and their distribution, and the limited knowledge of key factors driving biological diversification. Such challenges are especially prominent in diverse clades with high levels of cryptic species, such as many Neotropical frogs. Herein, we conduct a mitochondrial phylogenetic study on monkey treefrogs in the genus Pithecopus and a multilocus analysis of the P. hypochondrialis species group throughout its distribution in the South American dry diagonal (DD). Our goals were to infer the main lineages and identify historical factors that led to their divergence. Among nine currently recognised species, we found 14 well‐structured mitochondrial lineages in two main clades, which diversified during the Paleogene/Neogene transition. The lowland clade is widely distributed in the DD, and our multilocus analysis suggests it comprises seven geographically structured lineages: P. azureus , two lineages of P. hypochondrialis , two species and one lineage for the P. nordestinus complex, and Pithecopus sp. Considering the geomorphological history of the region, diversification may have been promoted by allopatric speciation during Miocene paleogeographic events, especially the Brazilian Plateau compartmentalization and fluctuations in the São Francisco River water volume. Furthermore, gene flow between some lineages may be explained by niche conservatism and demographic expansions during the late Pleistocene, a period marked by climatic fluctuations and biome shifts. Our results reinforce the importance of both Neogene tectonic activity and Quaternary climatic fluctuations in shaping the Neotropical biota.

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