Distinct Species Status of a Microhyla from the Yaeyama Group of the Southern Ryukyus, Japan (Amphibia, Anura, Microhylidae)

Abstract

A Japanese microhylid, Microhyla okinavensis, originally described from Okinawajima Island, middle Ryukyus, was long synonymized with M. ornata from India. However, molecular phylogenetic studies revealed its distinct species status from M. ornata, and more recent phylogenetic study revealed the population from the Yaeyama Group of the southern Ryukyus to be a sister taxon to Chinese M. mixtura and not to populations from the remaining group of the Ryukyus, that are sister to another Chinese species, M. beilunensis. The Yaeyama and the remaining Ryukyu populations greatly differ phylogenetically, although less clearly morphologically. From these data, we consider the Yaeyama population as a species distinct from M. okinavensis from the middle Ryukyus.