Systematics and biogeography of the Hylarana frog (Anura: Ranidae) radiation across tropical Australasia, Southeast Asia, and Africa

•Most inclusive phylogeny of Hylarana across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Australasia.•10 genera recognized from molecular clade diagnosis and morphology of vouchers.•Biogeographic reconstructions indicate Southeast Asian origin ∼27 MYA with multiple Indian colonizations.•Colonized New Guinea ∼11 MYA corresponding with formation of Vogelkop Peninsula.•Colonized Africa from SE Asia ∼19 MYA representing overwater dispersal or a relict distribution.

We present an inclusive molecular phylogeny for Hylarana across its global distribution, utilizing two mitochondrial and four nuclear gene regions for 69 of the 97 currently described species. We use phylogenetic methods to test monophyly of Hylarana, determine relationships among ten putative subgenera, identify major clades, reconstruct biogeographic history, and estimate continental dispersal dates. Results support Hylarana as a monophyletic group originating approximately 26.9 MYA and comprising eight clades that partly correspond to currently described subgenera plus two new groups. The African and Australasian species each form clades embedded within a paraphyletic Southeast Asian group. We estimate that Africa and Australasia were colonized by Hylarana s.l. from SE Asia approximately 18.7 and 10.8 MYA, respectively. Biogeographic reconstructions also support three separate colonization events in India from Southeast Asia. Examination of museum specimens identified morphological characters useful for delineating subgenera and species. We herein elevate all supported subgenera to genus rank and formally describe two new genera to produce a revised taxonomy congruent with our new phylogenetic and biogeographic findings.

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