Dissertation Research: Historical Biogeography of Rhacophorid Frogs of the Japan and Ryukyu Archipelago Inferred from a Phylogenetic Perspective

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9520947 Densmore This research involves collection of samples of a rhacophorid frog fauna from five hypothesized areas of endemism which comprise the Japan Archipelago and Taiwan, and phylogenetically related or geographically proximate taxa from the Asian continent. From these specimens, two independent data sets derived from mtDNA and morphology will be analyzed independently and in concert to construct phylogenetic hypotheses for two distinct lineages which have representatives inhabiting these areas of endemism. The resulting phylogenies will be used to test whether the present distribution patterns of these frogs are the result of past vicariant events and to present a hypothesis of their historical biogeography. This hypothesis will then be analyzed along with the known geology of the archipelago to yield a general biogeographic hypothesis for the Japan Archipelago, which can be used to evaluate distributional patterns of other fauna and flora in Japan and Asia.