Skeletal Variation in Melanesian Forest Frogs (Anura: Ceratobatrachidae)

Abstract

Ceratobatrachidae is a ranoid family, which includes at least 87 described anuran species in six genera. Recent large-scale molecular phylogenies of Ranidae have shown strong support for the family's monophyly and 85 of the 87 described species can be divided into two primary monophyletic evolutionary radiations--one involving 30 Philippine species and another including 55 species from the islands of New Guinea, Palau, Fiji, and the Solomon-Bismarck Archipelago. I described osteological variation in eleven species of ceratobatrachids that occupy different microhabitats in both radiations in order to survey the amount of osteological diversity and identify convergent skeletal modifications repeated within this family. Although it is clear that certain morphological traits are a reflection of the shared phylogenetic history of the group, other characters are found to correspond to the ecology of the frog and therefore are the result of proximate adaptation to the immediate environment.