Phylogeography of the African common toad, <i>Amietophrynus regularis</i>, based on mitochondrial DNA sequences: inferences regarding the Cape Verde population and biogeographical patterns

Abstract

The amphibian Amietophrynus regularis is distributed throughout equatorial Africa, with presumed introduced populations in the Cape Verde archipelago. Portions of the 12S and 16S rRNA mitochondrial regions of 30 specimens from Kenya, Uganda, Niger, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde were used to assess genetic diversity and to identify the most probable geographic origin for the introduction of this toad on the latter archipelago. Two lineages with 1.4% genetic divergence between them were identified in western and eastern Africa. All sequences from the different Cape Verde Islands were identical to each other and to the Guinea-Bissau samples, indicating, together with other historical evidences, that an anthropogenic introduction event probably occurred, possibly from Guinea-Bissau, but further work is needed to confirm this. As previously noted, several individuals from previous genetic studies seem to have been misidentified.

African Zoology 45(2): 291–298 (October 2010)