The origin of modern frogs (Neobatrachia) was accompanied by acceleration in mitochondrial and nuclear substitution rates

Abstract

Background Understanding the causes underlying heterogeneity of molecular evolutionary rates among lineages is a long-standing and central question in evolutionary biology. Although several earlier studies showed that modern frogs (Neobatrachia) experienced an acceleration of mitochondrial gene substitution rates compared to non-neobatrachian relatives, no further characterization of this phenomenon was attempted. To gain new insights on this topic, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes and nine nuclear loci of one pelobatoid (Pelodytes punctatus) and five neobatrachians, Heleophryne regis (Heleophrynidae), Lechriodus melanopyga (Limnodynastidae), Calyptocephalella gayi (Calyptocephalellidae), Telmatobius bolivianus (Ceratophryidae), and Sooglossus thomasseti (Sooglossidae). These represent major clades not included in previous mitogenomic analyses, and most of them are remarkably species-poor compared to other neobatrachians [...].