The elucidation of the Rana livida complex

grantor: University of TorontoI investigated the suspected polytypic nature of the green cascade frog, Rana livida, from southeast Asia with a multi-step approach. My initial anatomical study of specimens from Vietnam resulted in the recognition of three distinct species and five morphological groups. I tested the strength of these groupings with morphometrics and cellular DNA content analysis. Congruence among the results of morphology, morphometrics, and cellular DNA content, led me to suspect the presence of further cryptic species. I tested this hypothesis with allozyme electrophoresis, resolving 15 presumptive loci. Fixed allelic differences suggested the presence of four additional species. They also suggested that one of the new species may be two distinct species, but the evidence collected here is equivocal. I elucidated seven species of the Rana livida complex. I believe that much more cryptic diversity of this complex and other cascade ranids await discovery. This highlights the need for rigorous taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses of all cascade ranids.M.Sc