Phylogenetic relationships and biodiversity in Hylids (Anura: Hylidae) from French Guiana.

We evaluated two biodiversity criteria, higher taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic diversity in French Guiana. For this, we used a recent assessment of the knowledge accumulated since 30 years of study on the amphibian species currently known in French Guiana. We focused on two well-represented genera, Hyla and Scinax, belonging to the subfamily Hylinae. We used partial sequences of two mitochondrial genes (16S rDNA and 12S rDNA, 813 bp) and two nuclear genes (tyrosinase and 18S rRNA, 1590 bp) covering a total of 2403 bp. According to the high bootstrap support in phylogenetic analysis of the complete dataset, the genus Scinax is a homophyletic clade formed by two species groups (rubra and rostrata) in French Guiana. The genus Hyla was confirmed to be a paraphyletic group formed by two species groups as well (30 chromosomes and the 'gladiator frogs'). We confirmed that these genera should be taxonomically reconsidered. Moreover, at the genus, subfamily and family levels, the use of only morphological characters or only molecular DNA markers would hamper estimations of biodiversity. Thus, we strongly advise the combined use of both morphology and molecular data (nuclear and mitochondrial markers).