Description of a tetraploid Tomopterna (Anura: Ranidae) from South Africa

Abstract

A new tetraploid species of sand frog, genus Tomopterna, is described from the eastern Cape. On the basis of mtDNA sequences, allozymes and advertisement calls, it appears to have arisen as a hybrid between the adjacent diploid populations of T. delalandii and T. cryptotis. The hybridization event is estimated to have occurred 1,5 MVA. Excluding Xenopus, this is the only allotetraploid member of an advanced frog family that is known.