O filo Myxozoa possui uma grande diversidade, sendo conhecidas cerca de 2300 espécies, as quais infectam principalmente peixes, mas também anfíbios répteis e aves. Para este estudo, coletas dos peixes de água doce foram realizadas no Pantanal Mato-grossense (estados de Mato Grosso e do Matogrosso do sul) e no Rio Mogi Guaçu e piscicultura do CEPTA/ICMBio (estado de São Paulo), visando estudos moleculares e morfológicos de mixosporídeos parasitas de 6 espécies de peixes. Os resultados das análises moleculares (amplificação e sequenciamento do gene 18S rDNA) e morfológicas revelaram a ocorrência de 11 espécies de mixosporídeos, sendo cinco parasitas comuns a Pseudoplatystoma corruscans e Pseudplatystoma fasciatum, três parasitas de Salminus brasiliensis, uma espécie parasita de Brycon hilarii, uma de Zungaru jahu e outra de Piaractus mesopotamicus. Das onze espécies, cinco ainda não são descritas pela literatura. A análise filogenética, utilizando o método de Neighbor-Joining, mostrou que o agrupamento das espécies ocorre principalmente de acordo com a proximidade filogenética de seus hospedeiros e que todas as espécies da América do Sul agruparam em um clado monofilético. Foi observado, em alguns pontos da árvore filogenética, que o tropismo de tecido e/ou órgão de infecção caracteriza um importante fator de seleção evolutiva. Com menor frequência também foi observado alguns agrupamentos resultantes de parasitas cuja maior relação aparente era a sua localização geográfica, porém, novos estudos ainda são necessários para determinar o verdadeiro papel deste fator na evolução dos mixosporídeos. / The phylum Myxozoa has a great diversity, with about 2300 known species, which infect mainly fishes, but also amphibians, reptiles and birds. In this study, freshwater fishes were caught in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states) and in the Mogi Guaçu River and CEPTA/ICMBio\'s fishfarm (São Paulo state) aiming the molecular and morphological studies of myxosporeans parasites of 6 fish species. The results of molecular (amplification and sequencing of the 18S rDNA gene) and morphological analysis revealed the occurrence of 11 species of myxosporeans, five of them infecting both Pseudoplatystoma corruscans and Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, three parasites of Salminus brasiliensis, one specie infecting Brycon hilarii, one infecting Zungaro jahu and another infecting Piaractus mesopotamicus. Of these eleven species, five are not yet described by literature. The phylogenetic analysis, using the Neighbor-joining method, showed that the species clustered mainly according to the phylogenetic distance of their hosts and that all species of South America were grouped in a monophyletic clade. In some positions of the phylogenetic tree was observed that tissue tropism and/or organ of infection characterized an important factor in evolutionary selection. Less frequently was also observed some groups containing species which the major apparent relation is its geographical position, however, new studies are still needed to determine the true role of this factor in the evolution of myxosporeans.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-05-13T11:25:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 marianafonsecarossi.pdf: 3622749 bytes, checksum: 75680c20f0af5b48589dec0954c64298 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-06-27T20:09:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marianafonsecarossi.pdf: 3622749 bytes, checksum: 75680c20f0af5b48589dec0954c64298 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-27T20:09:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marianafonsecarossi.pdf: 3622749 bytes, checksum: 75680c20f0af5b48589dec0954c64298 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-27 / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / A dissertação está dividida em três seções. A Seção 1 apresenta um estudo morfológico e taxonômico detalhado, no qual 36 espécies de ciliados do rúmen de bovino e ovino foram inventariadas, com base na observação dos ciliados in vivo, corados com preparações semipermanentes, impregnados pela técnica do carbonato de prata amoniacal e visualizados por microscopia eletrônica de varredura. Esta seção traz novas informações sobre os caracteres morfométricos importantes para a taxonomia deste grupo, com a descrição da infraciliatura e a importância do uso de técnicas ciliatológicas pouco usadas na caracterização de ciliados ruminais. Na Seção 2, com intuito de revelar a infraciliatura oral e somática para amplo espectro de gêneros e espécies de ciliados ruminais foram realizadas modificações nos protocolos existentes para a técnica do carbonato de prata amoniacal com piridina e estabelecido um protocolo modificado que permitiu a impregnação da infraciliatura oral e do aparato nuclear de todas as 36 espécies de ciliados do rúmen de bovino e ovino alimentados com cana-de-açúcar. O protocolo proposto é simples, rápido e fácil de ser reproduzido, sendo vantajoso para taxonomistas interessados em realizar estudos de levantamento de biota ruminal e para zootecnistas e ecólogos interessados em entender a estrutura da taxocenose de protistas ciliados ruminais. A Seção 3 apresenta um estudo filogenético da família Ophryoscolecidae com base em informações do gene 18S-rDNA, incluindo cinco novas sequências. Os principais resultados obtidos foram: ¹evidenciação da monofilia das subfamílias Entodiniinae e Ophryoscolecinae; ²a subfamília Diplodiniinae é considerada parafilética; ³os padrões de infraciliatura oral refletem divergência evolutiva na família Ophryscolecidae; 4evidenciação da monofilia dos padrões de ciliatura oral padrão-Entodinium, padrão Ostracodinium (Ostracodinium gracile e Ostracodinium mammosum), padrão-Epidinium e padrão-Ophryoscolex; 5a condição ancestral do padrão-Entodinium sugerida por alguns autores não pôde ser comprovada usando informações do gene 18S-rDNA. As incongruências observadas entre os dados morfológicos e moleculares refletem a necessidade de se ampliar o número de sequências do gene 18S-rDNA para representantes da família Ophryoscolecidae e investigar a evolução deste grupo usando outros marcadores moleculares. / The dissertation is divided into three sections. Section 1 provides a detailed taxonomic and morphological study, in which 36 species of rumen ciliates in cattle and sheep were inventoried, based on live observation, semipermanent preparations, pyridinated silver carbonate impregnation and scanning electron microscopy. This section provides new information on important morphometric characters for the taxonomy of this group, with the description of infraciliature and the importance of using techniques ciliatológicas underused in the characterization of rumen ciliates. In Section 2 aiming to reveal the somatic and oral infraciliature for wide spectrum of genera and species of rumen ciliates, were made modifications to existing protocols for the pyridinated silver carbonate impregnation and established a modified protocol that allowed allowed impregnation of infraciliatura oral and nuclear apparatus of all 36 species of rumen ciliates of cattle and sheep fed with cane sugar bagasse. The proposed protocol is simple, quick and easy to be reproduced, being advantageous for taxonomists interested in perform survey studies of ruminal biota and animal scientists and ecologists interested in understanding the taxocenose and structure of the rumen ciliates. Section 3 presents a phylogenetic study of the family Ophryoscolecidae based on 18S-rDNA gene information, including five new sequences. The main results were: ¹ confirmation of the monophyly of the Entodiniinae and Ophryoscolecinae subfamilies; 2 Diplodiniinae subfamily is considered paraphyletic; 3 oral infraciliature patterns reflect evolutionary divergence in the family Ophryscolecidae; 4 confirmation of monophyly of oral ciliature patterns Entodinium-type, Ostracodinium-type (Ostracodinium gracile and Ostracodinium mammosum), Epidinium-type and Ophryoscolex-type; 5 the ancestral condition of Entodinium-type suggested by some authors could not be verified using information from 18S-rDNA gene. The inconsistencies observed between the morphological and molecular data reflect the need to increase the number of 18S rDNA gene sequences to family Ophryoscolecidae representatives and investigate the evolution of this group using other molecular markers.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2018-06-12T11:58:26Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-06-14T12:44:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-14T12:44:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-26 / A família Cycloposthiidae (Ciliophora, Trichostomatia) inclui protozoários ciliados simbiontes intestinais de mamíferos herbívoros conhecidos por contribuir de forma significativa no metabolismo digestivo de seus hospedeiros. Atualmente, é representada por 69 espécies, divididas em 17 gêneros. Entretanto, devido à ausência de padrão metodológico para descrições de espécies, bem como diversas outras incongruências taxonômicas, a sistemática da família Cycloposthiidae necessita de ampla reformulação. Estudos recentes tem demonstrado que a família Cycloposthiidae não é monofilética, porém, há escassez de dados molecures para investigar tais relações. Esta dissertação encontra-se dividida em duas seções. A Seção 1 apresenta breve revisão taxonômica da família Cycloposthiidae, com dados sobre taxonomia, morfologia, checklist de espécies, hospedeiros e distribuição geográfica, e discute a validade dos táxons pertencentes à família, a fim de refletir sobre a sistemática do grupo. A Seção 2 apresenta dados sobre filogenia molecular de representantes da família Cycloposthiidae e fornece dez novas sequências, sendo nove de representantes do gênero Cycloposthium e uma do gênero Monoposthium, a fim de investigar a relação entre os membros da família Cycloposthiidae e demais ciliados tricostomatídeos, e investigar a evolução de alguns caracteres morfológicos dentro do gênero Cycloposthium. Deste modo, ressalta-se a importância de conhecer melhor os representantes da família Cycloposthiidae, a considerar sua diversidade, amplo espectro de hospedeiros nos quais estas espécies ocorrem e sua importância na digestão desses animais. / The family Cycloposthiidae (Ciliophora, Trichostomatia) includes symbiotic intestinal ciliates of herbivorous mammals known to contribute significantly to the digestive metabolism of their hosts. Currently, it is represented by 69 species, divided into 17 genera. However, because to the absence of a methodological pattern for species descriptions, as well as several other taxonomic incongruities, the systematics of the family Cycloposthiidae requires extensive reformulation. Recent studies have shown that the family Cycloposthiidae is not monophyletic, however, there is a paucity of molecular data to investigate such relationships. This dissertation is divided into two sections. Section 1 presents a brief taxonomic review of the family Cycloposthiidae, with data on taxonomy, morphology, species checklists, hosts and geographic distribution, and discusses the validity of taxa belonging to the family, with the objective to reflect on the group's systematics. Section 2 presents data on molecular phylogeny of representatives of the family Cycloposthiidae and provides ten new sequences, nine of which are representatives of the genus Cycloposthium and one of the genus Monoposthium, with the objective to investigate the relationships between the members of the family Cycloposthiidae and other tricostomatids ciliates, and to investigate the evolution of some characters within the genus Cycloposthium. In this way, it is emphasized the importance of knowing better the family Cycloposthiidae, to consider its diversity, wide spectrum of hosts where the family occurs and its importance in the digestion of these animals.

Mixosporídeos apresentam ampla distribuição geográfica e infectam principalmente peixes e invertebrados. Até o momento foram descritas aproximadamente 2.400 espécies. No entanto, para a América do Sul, onde se encontra a maior diversidade ictiofaunística, ainda existem poucos estudos. Esse estudo foi desenvolvido na Bacia do rio São Francisco a qual possui uma extraordinária ictiofauna com aproximadamente 158 espécies descritas. Entre estas, algumas espécies como aquelas da família Bryconidae merecem destaque pela importância econômica na pesca extrativista e potencial de cultivo. As analises morfológicas (microscopia de luz e análise ultraestrutural), biologia molecular (PCR e sequenciamento) foram utilizadas para descrever duas espécies novas de Myxobolus encontradas infectando um bryconídeo endêmicos do Rio São Francisco popularmente conhecido como matrinxã (Brycon orthotaenia). Myxobolus sp.1 foi encontrada no ovário e Myxobolus sp. 2 no fígado de B. orthotaenia. O estudo da interação parasito-hospedeiro permitiu a análise do processo de desenvolvimento do parasito e como interage com o hospedeiro. O estudo taxonômico foi realizado a partir da análise morfológica, utilizando microscopia de luz, microscopia eletrônica de transmissão e análise molecular através do sequenciamento do 18s rDNA. A análise filogenética também foi realizada. / Mixosporids have a wide geographical distribution and mainly infect fish and invertebrates. So far approximately 2,400 species have been described. However, for South America, where the greatest ichthyofaunistic diversity is found, there are still few studies. This study was developed in the São Francisco river basin where an extraordinary ichthyofauna has been reported with approximately 158 species described. Among these, some species such as the ones in the Bryconidae family deserve special attention because of their economic importance for extractive fisheries and potential for farming. Morphological analyses (light microscopy and ultrastructural analysis), molecular biology (PCR and sequencing) were used to describe two new species of Myxobolus found infecting an endemic bryconid, Brycon orthotaenia known as matrinxã, from São Francisco River. Myxobolus sp.1 was found in the ovary and Myxobolus sp. 2 in the liver of B. orthotaenia. The study of host-parasite interaction allowed an analysis of the developmental process of the parasite and how it interacts to the host. The taxonomic study was done by morphological analysis, using light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and the molecular analysis was done through the sequencing of the 18S rDNA. The phylogenic tree was also performed.

Mixosporídeos apresentam ampla distribuição geográfica e infectam principalmente peixes e invertebrados. Até o momento foram descritas aproximadamente 2.400 espécies. No entanto, para a América do Sul, onde se encontra a maior diversidade ictiofaunística, ainda existem poucos estudos. Esse estudo foi desenvolvido na Bacia do rio São Francisco a qual possui uma extraordinária ictiofauna com aproximadamente 158 espécies descritas. Entre estas, algumas espécies como aquelas da família Bryconidae merecem destaque pela importância econômica na pesca extrativista e potencial de cultivo. As analises morfológicas (microscopia de luz e análise ultraestrutural), biologia molecular (PCR e sequenciamento) foram utilizadas para descrever duas espécies novas de Myxobolus encontradas infectando um bryconídeo endêmicos do Rio São Francisco popularmente conhecido como matrinxã (Brycon orthotaenia). Myxobolus sp.1 foi encontrada no ovário e Myxobolus sp. 2 no fígado de B. orthotaenia. O estudo da interação parasito-hospedeiro permitiu a análise do processo de desenvolvimento do parasito e como interage com o hospedeiro. O estudo taxonômico foi realizado a partir da análise morfológica, utilizando microscopia de luz, microscopia eletrônica de transmissão e análise molecular através do sequenciamento do 18s rDNA. A análise filogenética também foi realizada. / Mixosporids have a wide geographical distribution and mainly infect fish and invertebrates. So far approximately 2,400 species have been described. However, for South America, where the greatest ichthyofaunistic diversity is found, there are still few studies. This study was developed in the São Francisco river basin where an extraordinary ichthyofauna has been reported with approximately 158 species described. Among these, some species such as the ones in the Bryconidae family deserve special attention because of their economic importance for extractive fisheries and potential for farming. Morphological analyses (light microscopy and ultrastructural analysis), molecular biology (PCR and sequencing) were used to describe two new species of Myxobolus found infecting an endemic bryconid, Brycon orthotaenia known as matrinxã, from São Francisco River. Myxobolus sp.1 was found in the ovary and Myxobolus sp. 2 in the liver of B. orthotaenia. The study of host-parasite interaction allowed an analysis of the developmental process of the parasite and how it interacts to the host. The taxonomic study was done by morphological analysis, using light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and the molecular analysis was done through the sequencing of the 18S rDNA. The phylogenic tree was also performed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:03:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1210_1.pdf: 3294326 bytes, checksum: 9fc990b48e1446999fb6ce37e99cda14 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Nematoda é um dos táxons mais abundantes e diversos dentre os metazoários, contudo, grande parte desta diversidade permanece desconhecida. A taxonomia do grupo muitas vezes tem uma história controversa, não somente em conseqüência do desenvolvimento dos procedimentos em sistemática, mas também por que relativamente poucos nematologistas produzem classificações detalhadas. Além disso, Nematoda é considerado um grupo de difícil identificação, devido ao seu tamanho corporal, o que reforça a necessidade da utilização de outros subsídios para acelerar a descoberta e classificação de sua biodiversidade. A fim de pôr em prática a taxonomia integrativa , onde vários tipos de dados são utilizados no estudo das espécies, este trabalho destinase a descrever uma nova espécie de Daptonema, revelar as suas relações filogenéticas, além de descrever e correlacionar sua estratégia reprodutiva com os parâmetros ambientais. As coletas de material biológico e dados abiótico foram realizadas na Bacia do Pina, quinzenalmente, na estação seca (setembro, outubro e novembro/2006) e na estação chuvosa (maio, junho e julho/2007), sempre na baixa-mar. Em dezembro, coletou-se uma amostra para extração de DNA e sequenciamento do gene 18S (rDNA). As seqüências foram analisadas pelos métodos de máxima parcimônia, neighbor-joining e inferência bayesiana. As correlações com os fatores ambientais foram realizadas utilizando a Correlação de Spearman. A espécie de Daptonema é nova por apresentar uma acentuada redução das setas cefálicas e a espícula em linha reta, característica esta que requer uma emenda na descrição do gênero. Em algumas fêmeas também se pode observar a incubação intra-uterina da prole, sendo tal característica considerada uma das autapomorfias da espécie. As análises apoiaram Daptonema sp. nov. como uma linhagem genética e evolutivamente distinta. Os dados também indicaram uma sinonímia e uma parafilia envolvendo Daptonema. Em Daptonema sp. nov. foi observado a ovoviviparidade, entretanto, o que torna o fenômeno peculiar é a presença de ovos e juvenis em vários estágios de desenvolvimento. Os resultados ecológicos mostraram que nenhum fator ambiental apresentou uma correlação significativa com o fenômeno reprodutivo em Daptonema sp. nov

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T14:38:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leonardo.pdf: 1018615 bytes, checksum: 9f57d9963ee3262c7c62a9c0e4dc3cfe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Fish represent the largest group and occupy a more basal position in the phylogeny of vertebrates, contain large morphological variety and are present in different habitats, making it an interesting model for the study of genetic variability and evolution. Among these, for species popularly known as minnows, growing numbers of systematic and phylogenetic studies are presented, primarily due to the discovery of synonyms and description of new species. In the present study we analyzed cytogenetically seven species of minnows (abramis A., A. asuncionensis, A. correntinus, Astyanax sp., M. dichroura, R. and T. descalvadensis argenteus) collected downstream of the Iguazu Falls (Lower Basin Paraná River), and this stretch corresponding to the area of environmental preservation of the Iguassu National Park. It is species-specific markers, such as karyotypic macrostructure, pattern of heterochromatin distribution and localization of 5S rDNA genes and 18S rDNA. The results help to distinguish between A. abramis and A. asuncionensis, the first cytogenetic data of A. correntinus suggested correlation with group A. schubarti due to the high similarity of karyotypes. The analysis astyanax sp. confirmed case of a species not yet described taxonomically. The analyzes Moenkhausia, Roeboides Tetragonopterus and showed the first molecular cytogenetic data, revealing variability in the number and location of sites of 5S rDNA and 18S rDNA, confirming the diversity of these genes among different genera of Characidae, and allowing the use of these markers in comparative analyzes with congeneric species / Os peixes representam o grupo mais numeroso e ocupam a posição mais basal na filogenia dos vertebrados, comportam grande variedade morfológica e estão presentes em diversos habitats, tornando-se um grupo interessante para o estudo da variabilidade genética e evolução. Dentre estes, para espécies popularmente conhecidas como lambaris, crescentes números de estudos sistemáticos e filogenéticos são apresentados, principalmente decorrente da descoberta de sinonímias e descrição de novas espécies. No presente estudo foram analisadas citogeneticamente sete espécies de lambaris (A. abramis, A. asuncionensis, A. correntinus, Astyanax sp., M. dichroura, R. descalvadensis e T. argenteus) coletadas à jusante das Cataratas do Iguaçu (Bacia do Baixo rio Paraná), sendo este trecho correspondente a área de preservação ambiental do Parque Nacional do Iguaçu. Verificou-se marcadores espécie-específicos, como macroestrutura cariotípica, padrão de distribuição da heterocromatina e localização dos genes 5S rDNA e 18S rDNA. Os resultados auxiliaram na diferenciação entre A. abramis e A. asuncionensis; os primeiros dados citogenéticos de A. correntinus sugeriram correlação com o grupo A. schubarti devido à alta similaridade cariotípica. A análise de Astyanax sp. confirmou tratar de uma espécie ainda não descrita taxonomicamente. As análises em Moenkhausia, Roeboides e Tetragonopterus evidenciaram os primeiros dados citogenéticos moleculares, revelando variabilidade quanto ao número e localização dos sítios de 5S rDNA e 18S rDNA, confirmando a diversidade destes genes entre os diferentes gêneros de Characidae, e possibilitando a utilização destes marcadores em análises comparativas com espécies congêneres

In dieser Arbeit wurde die progenetische Evolution der Dinophilidae innerhalb der Eunicida („Polychaeta“, Annelida) sowie der Ursprung weiterer vermutlich progenetischer Arten des Euniciden-Taxons „Dorvilleidae“ (Parapodrilus psammophilus und Microdorvillea sp. n.) mit Hilfe molekularer Daten untersucht. Ein etwa 1800 bp langer Abschnitt der 18S-rDNA wurde erfolgreich von den in Tabelle 1 aufgeführten Arten (s. S. 5-7), mit Ausnahme von Ophryotrocha puerilis und Pusillotrocha akessoni, sequenziert. Von der 28S-rDNA wurde ein etwa 2250 bp langer Abschnitt von Trilobodrilus heideri, Protodorvillea kefersteinii, Eunice sp. und Hyalinoecia tubicola sequenziert. Von den folgenden Arten wurden 488 bzw. 482 bp der CO I bestimmt: Rheomorpha neiswestonovae, Trilobodrilus axi, Trilobodrilus heideri, Ophryotrocha gracilis, Ophryotrocha puerilis, Protodorvillea kefersteinii, Schistomeringos rudolphi, Eunice sp., Marphysa sanguinea, Lumbrineris funchalensis, Hyalinoecia tubicola, Potamodrilus fluviatilis und Sabella crassicornis. Zusätzliche Sequenzen der 18S-rDNA, der 28S-rDNA und der CO I wurden der Datenbank GenBank entnommen. Weitere Sequenzen der 28S-rDNA und der CO I wurden freundlicherweise von Frau Jördens zur Verfügung gestellt. Vor den phylogenetischen Analysen wurden Bereiche unterschiedlicher Variabilität definiert. Unterschiede zwischen den Substitutions-, Transitions-, Transversions- und allgemeinen Mutationsraten sowohl untereinander als auch zwischen den Variabilitätsbereichen sowie Sättigungen wurden ermittelt. Das phylogenetische Signal wurde mittels Likelihood Mapping verdeutlicht. Phylogenetische Analysen der einzelnen Gene sowie in Kombination der beiden nukleären ribosomalen Gene und aller drei Gene wurden durchgeführt. Dabei wurden die Parsimonie-, die ML- und die Bayes´sche Analyse parallel angewendet. Soweit möglich wurden Signifikanztests durchgeführt. Die zum einen die beiden Hypothesen der Monophylie der Eunicida mit und ohne Dinophilidae gegeneinander und zum anderen die beste Lösung gegen diese beiden Hypothesen und die Hypothese einer Monophylie der Taxa der ehemaligen „Archiannelida“ verglichen. Die Voruntersuchungen an den Datensätzen der einzelnen Gene zeigen bei den drei Genen deutliche Unterschiede der Substitutionsraten sowohl zwischen den einzelnen Variabilitätsbereichen als auch untereinander. Die Muster in den beiden Genen der 28S‑rDNA und der 18S-rDNA sind sich relativ ähnlich, allerdings ist die 28S‑rDNA variabler. Die CO I unterscheidet sich deutlich von den beiden anderen Genen in ihrem Muster und in ihrer Variabilität. Es wurde in allen drei Analysen Substitutionsmodelle gewählt die diese Unterschiede adäquat berücksichtigten. In der ML- und der Bayes´schen Analyse wurden die Modelle mittels dem Programm Modeltest bzw. MrModeltest bestimmt. In den Analysen der einzelnen Gene zeichnet sich die 18S-rDNA für diese Fragestellungen durch die beste Auflösung aus. Dieses ist auf die niedrige Variabilität sowie die große Anzahl an OTUs zurückzuführen. Die 28S-rDNA ist in der Auflösung wesentlich besser als die CO I und etwa so gut wie die 18S-rDNA. Die CO I alleine ist für Fragestellungen, die die Phylogenie der höheren taxonomischen Einheiten der Polychaeten betreffen, nicht geeignet. Die Kombination meherer Gene führte ebenfalls zu einer Verbesserung der Auflösung. Dabei wird die Auflösung mit steigender Zahl der Gene besser. Auch in diesen Analysen unterstützen die „posterior probabilities“ mehr Gruppen mit signifikanten Werten und sind immer höher als die BS-Werte. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Verwendung der besten Phylogenie der ML-Analyse als Startbaum in der Bayes´schen Analyse schneller und sicherer ins stabile optimale Gleichgewicht führt. Es wird daher empfohlen, diese Option wenigstens als Test für die Etablierung des stabilen optimalen Gleichgewichtes in zukünftigen Analysen zu verwenden. Die molekularen Daten lehnen eine nähere Verwandtschaft der Dinophilidae zu den Eunicida sowie zu den Taxa der ehemaligen „Archiannelida“ mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit, allerdings nicht signifikant, ab. Eine mögliche Verwandtschaft zu einem in die Analysen nicht eingegangenem Taxon der Eunicida kann nicht ausgeschlossen werden, da die Monophylie der Eunicida nur in den Analysen aller drei Gene bestätigt wird. Ebenfalls kann eine nähere Verwandtschaft der Dinophilidae zu einem anderen Taxon der „Polychaeta“ nicht mit signifikanter Unterstützung nachgewiesen werden. Da weder die molekularen noch die morphologischen Daten zurzeit eine eindeutige systematische Einordnung der Dinophilidae innerhalb der „Polychaeta“ erlauben, sollten die Dinophilidae wieder als eigenständiges Taxon innerhalb der „Polychaeta“ geführt und keinem anderen Taxon zugeordnet werden. Der progenetische Urspung der Dinophilidae ist aufgrund morphologischer Untersuchungen gut belegt. Die enge Verwandtschaft sowohl von Parapodrilus psammophilus als auch Microdorvillea sp. n. zu großen kiefertragenden Dorvilleiden mit polytrochen Larven wird mit signifikanten Werten in allen Analysen unterstützt. Die molekularen Daten unterstützen somit die vermutete progenetische Evolution von wenigstens Parapodrilus psammophilus. Dadurch dass die Dinophilidae mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit nicht in die „Dorvilleidae“ oder Eunicida eingeordnet werden können, ist auch die systematische Einordnung der Gattungen ohne muskulöses Pharynx-Organ (Apodotrocha und Apharyngtus) in die „Dorvilleidae“ nicht mehr mit eindeutiger Sicherheit gegeben. Sie wurden aufgrund der gleichen morphologischen Merkmale wie die Dinophilidae den „Dorvilleidae“ zu geordnet. Die molekular-phylogenetischen Analysen unterstützen nur in den kombinierten Analysen aller drei Gene die Monophylie der Eunicida. Dieser ist wahrscheinlich auf die „explosive Radiation“ dieses Taxons sowie der Taxa der Polychaeten im Allgemeinen zurückzuführen. Die nahe Verwandtschaft von Eunicidae und Onuphidae wird in allen Analysen, außer in denen mit der CO I, signifikant unterstützt. Die molekularen Daten unterstützen eine Monophylie der „Dorvilleidae“ nicht. Da der ctenognathe Kieferapparat der „Dorvilleidae“ sehr wahrscheinlich ein plesiomorphes Merkmal innerhalb der Eunicida ist, wird das Taxon auch morphologisch durch kein autapomorphes Merkmal charakterisiert. Die „Dorvilleidae“ sollten deshalb als parapyhletisch innerhalb der Eunicida betrachtet werden und mit Anführungsstrichen geführt werden. Die systematische Position der Histriobdellidae innerhalb der Eunicida kann basierend auf den Analysen der 18S-rDNA nicht eindeutig geklärt werden. Allerdings legt die Analyse, die eine Monophylie der Eunicida ohne Dinophilidae erzwingt, eine Verwandtschaft mit Ophryotrocha gracilis nahe. Zukünftige molekular-phylogenetische Analysen sowohl die Phylogenie der Annelida und im Besonderen der Eunicida als auch die systematische Einordnung der Dinophilidae betreffend sollten vor allem bei den Genen der 28S-rDNA und CO I noch mehr Taxa und Arten umfassen, um der geringen Auflösung der basalen Verzweigungen in allen Analysen und Problemen wie der „long branch attraction“ in zwei der Analysen mit der 28S-rDNA besser zu begegnen. Ferner sollte der Datensatz noch um andere Gene, wie zum Beispiel dem Elongationsfaktor 1a oder den Histonen, mit einer möglichst großen Zahl an Taxa erweitert werden.

The Guiana Shield is a sub-region of Amazonia, one of the richest areas on earth in terms of species number. It is also one of the most pristine areas and is still largely unexplored. Species number, distribution, boundaries and their evolutionary histories remain at least unclear but most of the time largely unknown. This is the case for most Anurans, a group which is recognized as threatened globally and is disappearing even from pristine tropical forests. Given the pace of forest destruction and the growing concerns about climate change it is urgently necessary to obtain a better estimate of regional biodiversity in Amazonian frogs as well as a better understanding of the origin and distribution of Anuran diversity. Furthermore, given their sensitivity to climatic conditions, amphibians are a good model to investigate the influence of paleoclimatic events on Neotropical diversification which was supposedly the driving force on biotic evolution during Pleistocene in the Guiana Shield. I first test species boundaries in two species Scinax ruber and Rhinella margaritifera. These species are widely distributed, abundant and largely recognized as species complexes. I used an original species delineation method based on the combined use of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA in phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated the polyphyly of Scinax ruber and Rhinella margaritifera. These species consist of multiple lineages that may all merit species status. Conflicting signals of mitochondrial and nuclear markers indicated the possibility of ongoing hybridization processes. Phylogeographic analyses added further information in support of the specific status of these lineages. Our results highlight the utility of combining phylogenetic and phylogeographic methods, as well as the use of both mitochondrial and nuclear markers within one study. This approach helped to better understand the evolutionary history of taxonomically complex groups of species. The assessment of the geographic distribution of genetic diversity in tropical amphibian communities can lead to conclusions that differ strongly from prior analyses based on the occurrence of currently recognized species alone. Such studies, therefore, hold the potential to contribute to a more objective assessment of amphibian conservation priorities in tropical areas. Subsequently, I tested if these first results on cryptic species are generalisable, questioning what would potentially be a minimum estimate of the number of cryptic frog species in Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, using mtDNA with multiple complementary approaches. I also combined isolation by distance, phylogenetic analyses, and comparison of molecular distances to evaluate threshold values for the identification of candidate species among these frogs. In most cases, geographically distant populations belong to genetically highly distinct lineages that could be considered as candidate new species. This was not universal among the taxa studied and thus widespread species of Neotropical frogs really do exist, contra to previous assumptions. Moreover, the many instances of paraphyly and the wide overlap between distributions of inter- and intra-specific distances reinforce the hypothesis that many cryptic species remain to be described. In our data set, pairwise genetic distances below 0.02 are strongly correlated with geographical distances. This correlation remains statistically significant until genetic distance is 0.05, with no such relation thereafter. This suggests that for higher genetic distances allopatric and sympatric cryptic species prevail. Based on our analyses, we propose a more inclusive pairwise genetic distance of 0.03 between taxa to target lineages that could correspond to candidate species. Using this approach, we identify 129 candidate species, two-fold greater than the 60 species included in the current study. This leads to estimates of around 170 to 460 frog taxa unrecognized in Amazonia-Guianas. As a consequence the global amphibian decline detected especially in the Neotropics may be worse than realised. The Rhinella margaritifera complex is characterisized by the presence of many cryptic species throughout its wide distribution, ranging from Panama to Bolivia and almost entire Amazonia. French Guiana has long been thought to harbor two species of this group, though molecular data analysed in previous chapters indicated as many as five lineages. I tested whether morphological measurements are correlated or not with genetic data using discriminant analysis and if diagnostic characteristics among the previously determined lineages can be used to describe these new species. This is a novel integrative method which can lead to a facilitation of the description of cryptic species that have been detected by phylogenetic and/or phylogeographic studies. These analyses, combined with published data of other Rhinella species, indicated that two of these lineages represent previously unnamed species. Two of the remaining are allocable to R. margaritifera while the status of the fifth is still unclear because so far it is morphologically indistinguishable from R. castaneotica. Determining if codistributed species responded to climate change in an independent or concerted manner is a basic objective of comparative phylogeography. Species boundaries, histories, ecologies and their geographical ranges are still to be explored in the Guiana Shield. According to the refugia hypothesis this region was supposed to host a forest refugium during climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene but the causes and timing for this have been criticized. We investigated patterns of genetic structure within 18 frog species in the eastern Guiana Shield to explore species boundaries and their evolutionary history. We used mtDNA and nuclear DNA and complementary methods to compare the genetic diversity spatially and temporally. With one exception all the species studied diversified repeatedly within the eastern Guiana Shield during the last 4 million years. Instead of one Pleistocene forest refugium the Guiana Shield has probably hosted multiple refugia during late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Most of these Pleistocene refugia were probably situated on the coast of French Guiana, Amapà, Suriname and Guyana. This diversification likely resulted from forest fragmentation. Many species deserve taxonomic revisions and their ranges to be reconsidered. The local endemism of the Anuran fauna of the Guiana Shield is likely to be much higher and some areas consequently deserve more conservation efforts. Specifically I questioned whether major intraspecific diversification started before the Pleistocene and occurred within the Guiana Shield or ex situ. According to ecological characteristics of the species involved I will test different diversification hypotheses. The consequences on the diversity and the endemism of the Guiana Shield will be explored. My results demonstrate that we have been grossly underestimating local biological diversity in the Guiana Shield but also in Amazonia in general. The order of magnitude for potential species richness means that the eastern Guiana Shield hosts one of the richest frog fauna on earth. In most of the species studied high levels of mtDNA differentiation between populations call for a reassessment of the taxonomic status of what is being recognised as single species. Most species display deep divergence between eastern Guiana Shield populations and Amazonian ones. This emphasizes that the local endemism in the Guiana Shield of these zones is higher than previously recognized and must be prioritised elements taken into account in conservation planning. Nevertheless, a few other species appear widely distributed showing that widespread species do exist. This underlines the fact that some species have efficient dispersal abilities and that the frog fauna of the eastern Guiana Shield is a mixture of old Guianan endemic lineages that diversified in situ mostly during late Pliocene and Pleistocene and more recently exchanged lineages with the rest of Amazonia. Recognizing this strong historical component is necessary and timely for local conservation as these zones are likely to be irremediably modified in the near future.