Phylogeography of the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor (Cope) based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data

Patterns of phylogeography and gene flow were examined in the canyon treefr og, Hyla arenicolor. A total of 973 bp of mitochondrial cytochrome b sequen ce data were obtained for 65 individuals from 53 populations, yielding 50 u nique haplotypes. Interpopulation sequence variation ranged from 0 to 13.7% . Phylogenetic analysis revealed three deeply divergent mtDNA lineages. The se three Clades were mapped onto geography and found to represent completel y concordant, nonoverlapping, geographical regions. Levels of sequence dive rgence between the three Clades were equal to or greater than published lev els of divergence found in other vertebrate species and genera. Furthermore , one Clade of H. arenicolor was found to be more closely related to the ou tgroup H. eximia than to other H. arenicolor, suggesting that the taxonomy of this species may require revision.