Diversity and distribution of deep mitochondrial lineages of the common frog, Rana temporaria, in northern Spain.

We provide an update of the geographical distribution and phylogenetic relationships of mitochondrial haplotype groups of the European common frog, Rana temporaria, one of the most widespread amphibians on Earth. Our data set of 378 newly determined DNA sequences of the cytochrome b gene is combined with 640 previously published sequences, mainly filling a sampling gap in the Spanish Basque country. A haplotype network based on 331 bp provides evidence for a previously unknown, deeply divergent haplogroup in this region, which in the eastern part of its range occurs sympatrically with a widespread group of haplotypes from the Pyrenean mountains, and to the West contacts a haplogroup typically for the central Cantabrian mountains. In contrast, samples from the isolated Montseny massif in the Spanish region of Catalonia are not differentiated from Pyrenean populations. Samples from Scotland cluster in a widespread haplogroup with samples from northern France, western Germany, and Ireland. Our data furthermore suggest that previous records of haplotype sharing of British R. temporaria populations with those from northwestern Spain are probably erroneous. A phylogenetic analysis based on 4,413 bp of mitochondrial DNA confirms the strong divergence of the newly discovered Basque haplogroup and indicates that it might be the sister group of a clade containing all other R. temporaria haplogroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]