PHYLOGENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS AND CALL STRUCTURE IN 4 AFRICAN BUFONID SPECIES

Four species of toads of the genus Bufo, comprising three species ende mic to southern Africa and one closely-related species, were examined electrophoretically to infer their phylogenetic relationships. The evo lution of advertisement call structure in these species is discussed i n relation to this phylogeny. Bufo rangeri and B. gutturalis, two spec ies with very different call structures, are sister taxa. Two pairs of species with very similar call structures, B. pardalis and B. guttura lis, and B. rangeri and B. angusticeps, were only distantly related. O ur results suggest that call parameters are poor characters to use in inferring phylogenies among congeneric species, probably because of se lection for optimal audibility in different habitats, and because of t he role that they play in premating isolation. The phylogeny derived f rom allozyme data agrees with evidence on albumin immunological distan ce, karyotype and morphology.