Phylogenetic relationships and call structure in four African bufonid species

Abstract

Four species of toads of the genus Bufo, comprising three species endemic to southern Africa and one closely-related species, were examined electrophoretically to infer their phylogenetic relationships. The evolution of advertisement call structure in these species is discussed in relation to this phylogeny. Bufo rangeri and B. gutturalis, two species with very different call structures, are sister taxa. Two pairs of species with very similar call structures, B. partialis and B. gutturalis, and B. rangeri and B. angusticeps, were only distantly related. Our resufts suggest that call parameters are poor characters to use in inferring phylogenies among congeneric species, probably because of selection for optimal audibility in different habitats, and because of the role that they play in premating isolation. The phylogeny derived from allozyme data agrees with evidence on albumin immunological distance, karyotype and morphology.