Because island communities are derived from the mainland, they are often less diverse by comparison. However, reduced complexity of island communities can also present ecological opportunities. For example, amphibian diversity on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is generally lower than in the Philippines, but this island supports a surprisingly diverse endemic assemblage of Sulawesi fanged frogs (genus Limnonectes). To explore evolutionary dynamics of this system, we examined molecular, morphological, and geographical variation of fanged frogs from these two regions. Using genealogical concordance – a conservative standard – we identified 12 species on Sulawesi, only four of which are described. One more species can be distinguished with morphology, and a Bayesian approach to species delimitation suggests our total species estimate on Sulawesi (n = 13) is still an underestimate. After accounting for evolutionary history, a model with multiple body size optima in sympatric Limnonectes species is significantly preferred over a “random walk” model where body size evolves by Brownian motion. Additionally, morphological variation is higher among sympatric than non-sympatric species on Sulawesi, but not in the Philippines. Taken together, these findings suggest that adaptive radiation of fanged frogs on Sulawesi was driven by natural selection to infiltrate ecological niches occupied by other lineages in the Philippines. Our study supports the concept of ecological opportunity in community assembly: diversification in mature communities, such as the Philippines, is limited by a dearth of unoccupied ecological niches. On Sulawesi however, evolutionary novelties originated in a predictable and replicated fashion in response to opportunities presented by a depauperate ancestral community.
Unique MtDNA sequences
see README file for key to mtDNA unique sequences; each unique sequence corresponds to one or more field codes, each of which corresponds to an individual frog.
Lim_rdna_bar_unique.bayes
RAG1 sequences
Rag1 nexus file used for MrBayes
Limrag1sula_codon_updatfinal.nxs
BP&P input file 1 for microtympanum and arathooni
BP&P input file 1 for microtympanum and arathooni
microara_bpp_data.txt
BP&P input file 2 for microtympanum and arathooni
BP&P input file 2 for microtympanum and arathooni
microara.Imap.txt
modestus BP&P input file 1
modestus BP&P input file 1
modestus_bpp_data.txt
modestus BP&P input file 2
modestus BP&P input file 2
modestus.Imap.txt
spT BP&P input file 1
spT BP&P input file 1
spT_bpp_data.txt
spT BP&P input file 2
spT BP&P input file 2
spT.Imap.txt
spV BP&P input file 1
spV BP&P input file 1
spV_bpp_data.txt
spV BP&P input file 2
spV BP&P input file 2
spV.Imap.txt
Partial Mantel: Phil female morph distance
Philippine limnonectes female morphological distances for partial mantel test
phil_f_morphdeltasquare.txt
Partial Mantel: Phil male morph distance
Philippine limnonectes male morphological distances for partial mantel test
phil_m_morphdeltasquare.txt
Partial Mantel: Phil mtDNA genetic distance
Philippine limnonectes mitochondrial DNA genetic distances for partial mantel test
phil_mt_resolved_chronogram.patristic.txt
Partial Mantel: Phil RAG1 genetic distance
Philippine limnonectes rag1 genetic distances for partial mantel test
phil_rag_resolved_chronogram.patristic.txt
Partial Mantel: Phil sympatry distance
Philippine limnonectes sympatry distances for partial mantel test
phil_sympatry.txt
Partial Mantel: Sulawesi female morph distance
Sulawesi Limnonectes female morphological distances for partial mantel test
sula_f_morphdeltasquare.txt
Partial Mantel: Sulawesi male morph distance
Sulawesi Limnonectes male morphological distances for partial mantel test
sula_m_morphdeltasquare.txt
Partial Mantel: Sulawesi mtDNA genetic distance
Sulawesi Limnonectes mitochondrial DNA genetic distances for partial mantel test
sula_mt_resolved_chronogram.patristic.txt
Partial Mantel: Sulawesi RAG1 genetic distance
Sulawesi Limnonectes RAG1 genetic distances for partial mantel test
sula_rag_resolved_chronogram.patristic.txt
Partial Mantel: Sulawesi sympatry distance
Sulawesi Limnonectes sympatry distances for partial mantel test
sula_sympatry_precise.txt
Brownie mtDNA input file for females
Brownie mtDNA input file for females
limno_mt_in_femalez_ln.nex
Brownie mtDNA input file for males
Brownie mtDNA input file for males
limno_mt_in_malez_ln.nex
Brownie rag1 input file for females
Brownie rag1 input file for females
limno_rag_in_femalez.nex
Brownie rag1 input file for males
Brownie rag1 input file for males
limno_rag_in_malez.nex
OUCH mtDNA input file for females
OUCH mtDNA input file for females
mtDNA_ouch_females_ln_size
OUCH mtDNA input file for males
OUCH mtDNA input file for males
mtDNA_ouch_males_ln_size
OUCH rag1 input file for females
OUCH rag1 input file for females
rag_ouch_females_ln_size
OUCH rag1 input file for males
OUCH rag1 input file for males
rag_ouch_males_ln_size
MtDNA tree
Consensus topology recovered from MrBayes analysis of unique mtDNA sequences
Lim_rdna_bar_unique.bayes.con
RAG1 tree
Consensus topology recovered from MrBayes analysis of RAG1 sequences
Limrag1sula_codon_updatfinal.nxs.con
Locality information
Locality information for genetic samples in this study
SI_appendix.xls