Meeting Abstract

35.2  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Phylogeny and phylogeography of western toads in the western Great Basin TRACY, CR*; FORISTER, M; HAGERTY, B; SANDMEIER, F; SIMANDLE, E; NOLES, P; BECK, M; FISHER, R; University of Nevada Reno; University of Nevada Reno; University of Nevada Reno; University of Nevada Reno; Paul Smiths University; University of Nevada Reno; University of Nevada Reno; USGS Western Region dtracy@biodiversity.unr.edu

Western toads (Anaxyrus boreas group) are diverse and remarkably understudied, and in the Great Basin, Western Toads often have been isolated for many thousands of years. We used morphology and DNA markers to study toad populations in Nevada, southeastern Oregon, and California. Our analyses indicate that several isolated populations in central Nevada should be recognized as new species. A new population of A. exsul was discovered in the White Mountains of Nevada. A. canorus in the Sierra Nevada Mountains are clearly polyphyletic. The status of A. nelsoni as a species separate from A. halophilus is obscure. However, populations of Western Toads in discontinuous habitats (e.g., springs and isolated stretches of rivers) in the Great Basin are nearly all very highly differentiated, and many should be treated minimally distinct population segments for the purpose of conservation, and most are incipient species by some definitions of species.