Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
The double odyssey of Madagascan polystome flatworms leads to new insights on the origins of their amphibian hosts
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume 276, No. 1662, Year 2009
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Polystomatid flatworms are parasites of high host specificity, which mainly infect amphibian hosts. Only one polystome species has so far been recorded from Madagascar despite the high species richness and endemicity of amphibians on this island. Out of the 86 screened Malagasy frog species, we recovered polystomes from 25 in the families Ptychadenidae and Mantellidae. Molecular phylogenetic analysis uncovered an unexpected diversity of polystome species belonging to two separate clades: one forming a lineage within the genus Metapolystoma, with one species in Ptychadena and several species in the mantellid host genera Aglyptodactylus and Boophis; and the second corresponding to an undescribed genus that was found in the species of the subfamily Mantellinae in the family Mantellidae. The phylogenetic position of the undescribed genus along with molecular dating suggests that it may have colonized Madagascar in the Late Mesozoic or Early Cainozoic. By contrast, the more recent origin of Metapolystoma in Madagascar at ca 14-2 Myr ago strongly suggests that the ancestors of Ptychadena mascareniensis colonized Madagascar naturally by overseas dispersal, carrying their Metapolystoma parasites. Our findings provide a striking example of how parasite data can supply novel insights into the biogeographic history of their hosts. © 2009 The Royal Society.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2660977/bin/rspb20081530s04.doc
Authors & Co-Authors
Verneau, Olivier
France, Perpignan
Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
Du Preez, Louis H.
South Africa, Potchefstroom
North-west University
Laurent, Véronique
France, Perpignan
Université de Perpignan Via Domitia
Raharivololoniaina, Liliane
Madagascar, Antananarivo
Université D'antananarivo
Glaw, Frank
Germany, Munich
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Vences, Miguel
Germany, Braunschweig
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Statistics
Citations: 33
Authors: 6
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rspb.2008.1530
ISSN:
09628452
Study Locations
Madagascar