The Phylogenetic Position of the Little Mexican Toad, Anaxyrus kelloggi, Using Molecular Data

摘要

We tested the phylogenetic position of Anaxyrus kelloggi, a distinctive toad species from coastal northwestern Mexico, using a similar to 2.4-kilobase fragment of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA gene regions and maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. The two approaches recovered nearly identical phylogenetic topologies, which provide strong support for placement of A. kellogi in the debilis group, as sister taxon to the clade formed by A. debilis and A. retiformis. Species relationships within the debilis group are also well supported and concordant with aspects of earlier, morphology-based hypotheses.