Genomic adaptations for vertical ecological niche diversification in Asian tree frogs

Ruihan Li; Jin-Long Ren; Ji-Shan Wang; Chaochao Yan; Wei Wu; Zhi-Tong Lyu; Mao-Liang Li; Junjie Huang; Tao Xue; Jia-Tang Li; Dechun Jiang

doi:10.59717/j.xinn-life.2026.100243

The Innovation Life > Online

ARTICLE Open Access

Cite PDF

Genomic adaptations for vertical ecological niche diversification in Asian tree frogs

1.
China-Croatia Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Biodiversity, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS, Chengdu 610213, China
2.
Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Biodiversity Conservation on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS, Chengdu 610213, China
3.
Mountain Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS, Chengdu 610213, China
4.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China
5.
Southwest Survey and Planning Institute of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Kunming 650031, China
6.
Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nay Pyi Taw 05282, Myanmar

Show all affliationsShow less

More Information

Corresponding author: jiangdc@cib.ac.cn
Received Date: May 08, 2026

Accepted Date: August 18, 2026

Published Online: August 20, 2026

The Innovation Life https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-life.2026.100243 | Cite this article

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

DownLoad: Full size image

PUBLIC SUMMARY

PUBLIC SUMMARY
1. Webbing morphology of Asian tree frogs is strongly correlated with their vertical niche position.
  
  Limited gene flow across distinct vertical strata reinforces speciation along the vertical ecological gradient.
  
  Positive and balancing selection on functionally distinct genes drive the evolution of webbing morphology.

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT

Species occupying heterogeneous ecological niches often exhibit pronounced phenotypic and genomic divergence, yet the mechanisms driving ecological differentiation remain unclear. Asian tree frogs (Rhacophorus sensu lato) span a vertical gradient from swamp, shrub, to arboreal habitats, providing an ideal system to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms underlying niche specialization. Here, we quantified interdigital webbing morphology in 630 individuals and generated genome-wide SNP data for 161 individuals representing 29 species. Our results show that webbing morphology is strongly correlated with vertical niche position. Phylogenomic analyses resolved ambiguous relationships and revealed a trend toward webbing reduction. Based on the clear phylogenetic relationships, introgression among distinct niches was inferred. Introgression was limited primarily between adjacent niche pairs (shrubby-swampy), while nearly complete absence of haplotype sharing across distinct niches indicates strong ecological barriers to gene flow. Selective sweep mapping identified 760 candidate genes exhibiting selection signals between arboreal and swampy groups, enriched in a wide range of pathways related to skeletal development (such as MAPK signaling) and cytoskeletal organization (such as Wnt signaling)—consistent with climbing and gliding adaptations. In contrast, long-term balancing selection preserved ancient polymorphisms to maintain functional allelic variation in genes associated with epithelial developmental plasticity (p63) and muscle architecture (obscn, ttn), with transposable elements potentially modulating regulatory variation. Our findings demonstrate that contrasting signatures of positive and balancing selection on functionally distinct genes drive the evolution of webbing morphology and locomotor traits, and limited gene flow across adjacent niches prevents homogenization, which together may contribute to adaptive diversification along vertical gradients.
- tree frogs /
- interdigital webbing morphology /
- ecological niche /
- selected genes /
- gene flow /
- phylogenomics

FullText(HTML)

REFERENCES

[1]	Coyne J. and Orr H. (2004). Speciation. Peichel C. L., Bolnick D. I., Brännström Å., et al. (eds). Cold spring harbor perspectives in biology. (Sinauer Associates), pp: 1–578. DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041735 View in Article Google Scholar
[2]	Rundle H. D. and Nosil P. (2005). Ecological speciation. Ecol. Lett. 8:336−352. DOI:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00715.x View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[3]	Wu W., Gao Y. D., Jiang D. C., et al. (2022). Genomic adaptations for arboreal locomotion in Asian flying treefrogs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 119:e2116342119. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2116342119 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[4]	Peng C., Wu D. D., Ren J. L., et al. (2023). Large-scale snake genome analyses provide insights into vertebrate development. Cell 186:2959−2976.e2922. DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.030 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[5]	Peng C., Ren J. L., Deng C., et al. (2020). The genome of shaw's sea snake (Hydrophis curtus) reveals secondary adaptation to its marine environment. Mol. Biol. Evol. 37:1744−1760. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msaa043 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[6]	Wang Z., Peng C., Wu W., et al. (2023). Developmental regulation of conserved non-coding element evolution provides insights into limb loss in squamates. Sci. China Life Sci. 66:2399−2414. DOI:10.1007/s11427-023-2362-5 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[7]	Hairston Jr N. G., Ellner S. P., Geber M. A., et al. (2005). Rapid evolution and the convergence of ecological and evolutionary time. Ecol. Lett. 8:1114−1127. DOI:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00812.x View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[8]	Fábregas-Tejeda A. and Ramsey G. (2024). Driftability and niche construction. Synthese 204:162. DOI:10.1007/s11229-024-04815-5 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[9]	Maan M. E. and Seehausen O. (2010). Mechanisms of species divergence through visual adaptation and sexual selection: Perspectives from a cichlid model system. Curr. Zool. 56:285−299. DOI:10.1093/czoolo/56.3.285 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[10]	Ravinet M., Prodöhl P. A. and Harrod C. (2013). Parallel and nonparallel ecological, morphological and genetic divergence in lake-stream stickleback from a single catchment. J. Evol. Biol. 26:186−204. DOI:10.1111/jeb.12049 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[11]	Oliveira B. F. and Scheffers B. R. (2019). Vertical stratification influences global patterns of biodiversity. Ecography 42:249−249. DOI:10.1111/ecog.03636 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[12]	Gámez S. and Harris N. C. (2022). Conceptualizing the 3D niche and vertical space use. Trends Ecol. Evol. 37:953−962. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2022.06.012 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[13]	Pizzatto L., Almeida-Santos S. M. and Shine R. (2007). Life‐history adaptations to arboreality in snakes. Ecology 88:359−366. DOI:10.1890/0012-9658(2007)88[359:latais]2.0.co;2 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[14]	de Alencar L. R. V., Martins M., Burin G., et al. (2017). Arboreality constrains morphological evolution but not species diversification in vipers. Proc. Biol. Sci. 284:20171775. DOI:10.1098/rspb.2017.1775 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[15]	Wang Z., Wu W., Shen F., et al. (2026). Genomic adaptations for tail-length evolution in arboreal snakes. Mol. Biol. Evol. 43. DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msag029 View in Article Google Scholar
[16]	Mattingly W. B. and Jayne B. C. (2004). Resource use in arboreal habitats: Structure affects locomotion of four ecomorphs of Anolis lizards. Ecology 85:1111−1124. DOI:10.1890/03-0293 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[17]	Crandell K. E., Herrel A., Sasa M., et al. (2014). Stick or grip. Co-evolution of adhesive toepads and claws in Anolis lizards. Zoology 117:363−369. DOI:10.1016/j.zool.2014.05.001 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[18]	Hagey T. J., Harte S., Vickers M., et al. (2017). There's more than one way to climb a tree: Limb length and microhabitat use in lizards with toe pads. PLoS One 12:e0184641. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0184641 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[19]	Jiang D., Jiang K., Ren J., et al. (2019). Resurrection of the genus Leptomantis, with description of a new genus to the family Rhacophoridae (Amphibia: Anura). Asian Herpetol Res. 10:1−16. DOI:10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.180058 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[20]	Li J. T., Li Y., Murphy R. W., et al. (2012). Phylogenetic resolution and systematics of the Asian tree frogs, Rhacophorus (Rhacophoridae, Amphibia). Zool. Scr. 41:557−570. DOI:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00557.x View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[21]	Dang N. X., Wang J. S., Liang J., et al. (2018). The specialisation of the third metacarpal and hand in arboreal frogs: Adaptation for arboreal habitat. Acta Zool. 99:115−125. DOI:10.1111/azo.12196 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[22]	Yang T., Jiang D., Dang N., et al. (2018). Morphological evolution of the forelimb of frogs (Anura) in adaption to arboreal environment. Sichuan J. Zool. 37:400−405. DOI:10.11984/j.issn.1000-7083.20180072 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[23]	Emerson S. B., Travis J. and Koehl M. A. R. (1990). Functional complexes and additivity in performance: A test case with “flying” frogs. Evolution 44:2153−2157. DOI:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1990.tb04320.x View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[24]	Emerson S. B. and Koehl M. A. R. (1990). The interaction of behavioural and morphological change in the evolution of a novel locomotor type: “flying” frogs. Evolution 44:1931−1946. DOI:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1990.tb04300.x View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[25]	Inger R. (1966). The systematics and zoogeography of the Amphibia of Borneo. Fieldiana Zool. 52:1−402. DOI:10.2307/1441784 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[26]	Fei L., Hu S. Q., Ye C. Y., et al. (2009). Amphibia. Editorial Committee of Fauna Sinica (ed). Fauna sinica. (Science Press), pp: 1–957. https://vufind.library.sh.cn/Record/49bb9d27-0bd5-4ba4-8741-0d022b76ca51?lng=en View in Article Google Scholar
[27]	Jaekel M. and Wake D. B. (2007). Developmental processes underlying the evolution of a derived foot morphology in salamanders. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 104:20437−20442. DOI:10.1073/pnas.0710216105 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[28]	Rasband W. S. (2006). ImageJ. https://imagej.net/software/imagej View in Article Google Scholar
[29]	Chen S., Zhou Y., Chen Y., et al. (2018). fastp: An ultra-fast all-in-one FASTQ preprocessor. Bioinformatics 34:i884−i890. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/bty560 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[30]	Song M., Yan C., Lv Y., et al. (2026). Supplementary materials to chromosomal inversion as cause for speciation in an Asian treefrog. figshare. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.22339813.v2 View in Article Google Scholar
[31]	Li H. and Durbin R. (2009). Fast and accurate short read alignment with Burrows-Wheeler transform. Bioinformatics 25:1754−1760. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btp324 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[32]	Li H., Handsaker B., Wysoker A., et al. (2009). The sequence alignment/map format and SAMtools. Bioinformatics 25:2078−2079. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btp352 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[33]	Li H. (2011). A statistical framework for SNP calling, mutation discovery, association mapping and population genetical parameter estimation from sequencing data. Bioinformatics 27:2987−2993. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btr509 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[34]	Brouard J. S., Schenkel F., Marete A., et al. (2019). The GATK joint genotyping workflow is appropriate for calling variants in RNA-seq experiments. J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 10:44. DOI:10.1186/s40104-019-0359-0 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[35]	Danecek P., Bonfield J. K., Liddle J., et al. (2021). Twelve years of SAMtools and BCFtools. GigaScience 10:1−4. DOI:10.1093/gigascience/giab008 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[36]	Purcell S., Neale B., Todd-Brown K., et al. (2007). PLINK: A tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 81:559−575. DOI:10.1086/519795 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[37]	Capella-Gutiérrez S., Silla-Martínez J. M. and Gabaldón T. (2009). trimAl: A tool for automated alignment trimming in large-scale phylogenetic analyses. Bioinformatics 25:1972−1973. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btp348 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[38]	Nguyen L. T., Schmidt H. A., von Haeseler A., et al. (2015). IQ-TREE: A fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies. Mol. Biol. Evol. 32:268−274. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msu300 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[39]	Guindon S., Dufayard J. F., Lefort V., et al. (2010). New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: Assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0. Syst. Biol. 59:307–321. DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syq010 View in Article Google Scholar
[40]	Yang Z. (2007). PAML 4: Phylogenetic analysis by maximum likelihood. Mol. Biol. Evol. 24:1586−1591. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msm088 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[41]	Li J. T., Li Y., Klaus S., et al. (2013). Diversification of rhacophorid frogs provides evidence for accelerated faunal exchange between India and Eurasia during the Oligocene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 110:3441−3446. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1300881110 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[42]	Legendre P. and Anderson M. J. (1999). Distance‐based redundancy analysis: Testing multispecies responses in multifactorial ecological experiments. Ecol. Monogr. 69:1−24. DOI:10.1890/0012-9615(1999)069[0001:DBRATM]2.0.CO;2 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[43]	Legendre P., Borcard D. and Peres-Neto P. R. (2005). Analyzing beta diversity: Partitioning the spatial variation of community composition data. Ecol. Monogr. 75:435−450. DOI:10.1890/05-0549 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[44]	Oksanen J., Simpson G., Blanchet F., et al. (2025). vegan: Community ecology package. R package version 2.8-0. https://github.com/vegandevs/vegan View in Article Google Scholar
[45]	Maddison W. P. and Maddison D. R. V. (2025). Mesquite: A modular system for evolutionary analysis. Version 3.6. https://www.mesquiteproject.org View in Article Google Scholar
[46]	Frichot E. and François O. (2015). LEA: An R package for landscape and ecological association studies. Methods Ecol. Evol. 6:925−929. DOI:10.1111/2041-210X.12382 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[47]	Alexander D. H., Novembre J. and Lange K. (2009). Fast model-based estimation of ancestry in unrelated individuals. Genome Res. 19:1655−1664. DOI:10.1101/gr.094052.109 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[48]	Browning B. L. and Browning S. R. (2013). Improving the accuracy and efficiency of identity-by-descent detection in population data. Genetics 194:459−471. DOI:10.1534/genetics.113.150029 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[49]	Browning B. L., Tian X., Zhou Y., et al. (2021). Fast two-stage phasing of large-scale sequence data. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 108:1880−1890. DOI:10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.08.005 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[50]	Malinsky M., Matschiner M. and Svardal H. (2021). Dsuite - Fast D-statistics and related admixture evidence from VCF files. Mol. Ecol. Resour. 21:584−595. DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13265 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[51]	Pickrell J. K. and Pritchard J. K. (2012). Inference of population splits and mixtures from genome-wide allele frequency data. PLoS Genet. 8:e1002967. DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002967 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[52]	Wu Q., Zheng P., Hu Y., et al. (2014). Genome-scale analysis of demographic history and adaptive selection. Protein Cell 5:99−112. DOI:10.1007/s13238-013-0004-1 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[53]	Korunes K. L. and Samuk K. (2021). pixy: Unbiased estimation of nucleotide diversity and divergence in the presence of missing data. Mol. Ecol. Resour. 21:1359−1368. DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13326 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[54]	Yan C., Song M. H., Jiang D., et al. (2023). Genomic evidence reveals intraspecific divergence of the hot-spring snake (Thermophis baileyi), an endangered reptile endemic to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Mol. Ecol. 32:1335−1350. DOI:10.1111/mec.16687 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[55]	Wu T., Hu E., Xu S., et al. (2021). clusterProfiler 4.0: A universal enrichment tool for interpreting omics data. The Innovation 2:100141. DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100141 View in Article Google Scholar
[56]	Shannon P., Markiel A., Ozier O., et al. (2003). Cytoscape: A software environment for integrated models of biomolecular interaction networks. Genome Res. 13:2498−2504. DOI:10.1101/gr.1239303 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[57]	Renaud G. (2018). glactools: A command-line toolset for the management of genotype likelihoods and allele counts. Bioinformatics 34:1398−1400. DOI:10.1093/bioinformatics/btx749 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[58]	Siewert K. M. and Voight B. F. (2020). BetaScan2: Standardized statistics to detect balancing selection utilizing substitution data. Genome Biol. Evol. 12:3873−3877. DOI:10.1093/gbe/evaa013 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[59]	Siewert K. M. and Voight B. F. (2017). Detecting long-term balancing selection using allele frequency correlation. Mol. Biol. Evol. 34:2996−3005. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msx209 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[60]	Bourgeois Y., Fields P. D., Bento G., et al. (2021). Balancing selection for pathogen resistance reveals an intercontinental signature of red queen coevolution. Mol. Biol. Evol. 38:4918−4933. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msab217 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[61]	Martin S. H. and Van Belleghem S. M. (2017). Exploring evolutionary relationships across the genome using topology weighting. Genetics 206:429−438. DOI:10.1534/genetics.116.194720 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[62]	Charlesworth D. (2006). Balancing selection and its effects on sequences in nearby genome regions. PLoS Genet. 2:e64. DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.0020064 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[63]	Fijarczyk A. and Babik W. (2015). Detecting balancing selection in genomes: Limits and prospects. Mol. Ecol. 24:3529−3545. DOI:10.1111/mec.13226 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[64]	Pan T., Zhang Y., Wang H., et al. (2017). The reanalysis of biogeography of the Asian tree frog, Rhacophorus (Anura: Rhacophoridae): Geographic shifts and climatic change influenced the dispersal process and diversification. PeerJ 5:e3995. DOI:10.7717/peerj.3995 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[65]	Chen J. M., Prendini E., Wu Y. H., et al. (2020). An integrative phylogenomic approach illuminates the evolutionary history of Old World tree frogs (Anura: Rhacophoridae). Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 145:106724. DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106724 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[66]	Yuan L., Yang K. and Jiang D. (2022). Molecular phylogenetic status of Rhacophorus laoshan and Zhangixalus yinggelingensis (Anura: Rhacophoridae) from China. Pak. J. Zool. 54:2417−2423. DOI:10.17582/journal.pjz/20200611050629 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[67]	Moen D. S., Morlon H. and Wiens J. J. (2016). Testing convergence versus history: Convergence dominates phenotypic evolution for over 150 million years in frogs. Syst. Biol. 65:146−160. DOI:10.1093/sysbio/syv073 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[68]	Patterson N., Moorjani P., Luo Y., et al. (2012). Ancient admixture in human history. Genetics 192:1065−1093. DOI:10.1534/genetics.112.145037 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[69]	Ralph P. and Coop G. (2013). The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe. PLoS Biol. 11:e1001555. DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001555 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[70]	Durand E. Y., Patterson N., Reich D., et al. (2011). Testing for ancient admixture between closely related populations. Mol. Biol. Evol. 28:2239−2252. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msr048 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[71]	Bolnick D. I. and Fitzpatrick B. M. (2007). Sympatric speciation: Models and empirical evidence. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 38:459−487. DOI:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.38.091206.095804 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[72]	Turner T. L., Hahn M. W. and Nuzhdin S. V. (2005). Genomic islands of speciation in Anopheles gambiae. PLoS Biol. 3:e285. DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030285 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[73]	Martin C. H., Cutler J. S., Friel J. P., et al. (2015). Complex histories of repeated gene flow in Cameroon crater lake cichlids cast doubt on one of the clearest examples of sympatric speciation. Evolution 69:1406−1422. DOI:10.1111/evo.12674 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[74]	Seehausen O., Butlin R. K., Keller I., et al. (2014). Genomics and the origin of species. Nat. Rev. Genet. 15:176−192. DOI:10.1038/nrg3644 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[75]	Feder J. L., Egan S. P. and Nosil P. (2012). The genomics of speciation-with-gene-flow. Trends Genet. 28:342−350. DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2012.03.009 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[76]	Hadid Y., Tzur S., Pavlícek T., et al. (2013). Possible incipient sympatric ecological speciation in blind mole rats (Spalax). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 110:2587−2592. DOI:10.1073/pnas.1222588110 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[77]	Nielsen R. (2005). Molecular signatures of natural selection. Annu. Rev. Genet. 39:197−218. DOI:10.1146/annurev.genet.39.073003.112420 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[78]	Sun Y., Liu W. Z., Liu T., et al. (2015). Signaling pathway of MAPK/ERK in cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, senescence and apoptosis. J. Recept. Signal Transduct. Res. 35:600−604. DOI:10.3109/10799893.2015.1030412 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[79]	Guo Y. J., Pan W. W., Liu S. B., et al. (2020). ERK/MAPK signalling pathway and tumorigenesis. Exp. Ther. Med. 19:1997−2007. DOI:10.3892/etm.2020.8454 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[80]	Bobick B. E. and Kulyk W. M. (2008). Regulation of cartilage formation and maturation by mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. Birth Defects Res. C Embryo Today Rev. 84:131−154. DOI:10.1002/bdrc.20126 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[81]	Kim J. M., Yang Y. S., Park K. H., et al. (2019). The ERK MAPK pathway is essential for skeletal development and homeostasis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 20:1803. DOI:10.3390/ijms20081803 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[82]	Khavari T. A. and Rinn J. (2007). Ras/Erk MAPK signaling in epidermal homeostasis and neoplasia. Cell Cycle 6:2928−2931. DOI:10.4161/cc.6.23.4998 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[83]	Scholl F. A., Dumesic P. A., Barragan D. I., et al. (2007). Mek1/2 MAPK kinases are essential for Mammalian development, homeostasis, and Raf-induced hyperplasia. Dev. Cell 12:615−629. DOI:10.1016/j.devcel.2007.03.009 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[84]	Liu Z., Lavine K. J., Hung I. H., et al. (2007). FGF18 is required for early chondrocyte proliferation, hypertrophy and vascular invasion of the growth plate. Dev. Biol. 302:80−91. DOI:10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.08.071 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[85]	Ohbayashi N., Shibayama M., Kurotaki Y., et al. (2002). FGF18 is required for normal cell proliferation and differentiation during osteogenesis and chondrogenesis. Genes Dev. 16:870−879. DOI:10.1101/gad.965702 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[86]	Stewart M. M. (1985). Arboreal habitat use and parachuting by a subtropical forest frog. J. Herpetol. 19:391−401. DOI:10.2307/1564267 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[87]	Herrel A., Perrenoud M., Decamps T., et al. (2013). The effect of substrate diameter and incline on locomotion in an arboreal frog. J. Exp. Biol. 216:3599−3605. DOI:10.1242/jeb.090027 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[88]	McKnight D. T., Nordine J., Jerrett B., et al. (2020). Do morphological adaptations for gliding in frogs influence clinging and jumping. J. Zool. 310:55−63. DOI:10.1111/jzo.12725 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[89]	Emmons L. H. and Gentry A. H. (1983). Tropical forest structure and the distribution of gliding and prehensile-tailed vertebrates. Am. Nat. 121:513−524. DOI:10.1086/284079 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[90]	Dial R. (2003). Energetic savings and the body size distributions of gliding mammals. Evol. Ecol. Res. 5:1151–1162. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288394628_Energetic_savings_and_the_body_size_distributions_of_gliding_mammals View in Article Google Scholar
[91]	Scheibe J. S., Smith W. P., Bassham J., et al. (2006). Locomotor performance and cost of transport in the northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus. Acta Theriol. 51:169−178. DOI:10.1007/BF03192668 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[92]	Carvill G. L. (2019). Calcium channel dysfunction in epilepsy: Gain of CACNA1E. Epilepsy Curr. 19:199−201. DOI:10.1177/1535759719845324 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[93]	Cartmill M. (1985). Chapter 5. Climbing. Hildebrand M., Bramble D. M., Liem K. F., et al., (eds). Functional vertebrate morphology. (Harvard University Press), pp: 73–88. DOI: 10.4159/harvard.9780674184404.c5 View in Article Google Scholar
[94]	van der Laan S., Folkersen L., van Setten J., et al. (2013). Human genetic evidence that common variants near PIK3CG are associated with atherosclerotic plaque hemorrhage and vessel density. Eur. Heart J. 34:770. DOI:10.1093/eurheartj/eht308.770 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[95]	Eelen G., de Zeeuw P., Treps L., et al. (2018). Endothelial cell metabolism. Physiol. Rev. 98:3−58. DOI:10.1152/physrev.00001.2017 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[96]	Vandebergh W., Maex M., Bossuyt F., et al. (2013). Recurrent functional divergence of early tetrapod keratins in amphibian toe pads and mammalian hair. Biol. Lett. 9:20130051. DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0051 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[97]	Hedrick P. W. (2012). What is the evidence for heterozygote advantage selection. Trends Ecol. Evol. 27:698−704. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2012.08.012 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[98]	Delph L. F. and Kelly J. K. (2014). On the importance of balancing selection in plants. New Phytol. 201:45−56. DOI:10.1111/nph.12441 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[99]	Soares E. and Zhou H. (2018). Master regulatory role of p63 in epidermal development and disease. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 75:1179−1190. DOI:10.1007/s00018-017-2701-z View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[100]	Chuong E. B., Elde N. C. and Feschotte C. (2017). Regulatory activities of transposable elements: From conflicts to benefits. Nat. Rev. Genet. 18:71−86. DOI:10.1038/nrg.2016.139 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[101]	Chen B., Zhang B., Xu L., et al. (2017). Transposable element-mediated balancing selection at Hsp90 underlies embryo developmental variation. Mol. Biol. Evol. 34:1127−1139. DOI:10.1093/molbev/msx062 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[102]	Trizzino M., Park Y., Holsbach-Beltrame M., et al. (2017). Transposable elements are the primary source of novelty in primate gene regulation. Genome Res. 27:1623−1633. DOI:10.1101/gr.218149.116 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[103]	Seehausen O. (2004). Hybridization and adaptive radiation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19:198−207. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2004.01.003 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[104]	Marques D. A., Meier J. I. and Seehausen O. (2019). A combinatorial view on speciation and adaptive radiation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 34:531−544. DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2019.02.008 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[105]	Chen T., Chen X., Zhang S., et al. (2021). The genome sequence archive family: Toward explosive data growth and diverse data types. Genomics Proteomics & Bioinformatics 19:578−583. DOI:10.1016/j.gpb.2021.08.001 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar
[106]	Members C. and Partners. (2025). Database resources of the national genomics data center, china national center for bioinformation in 2025. Nucleic Acids Res. 53:D30−D44. DOI:10.1093/nar/gkae978 View in Article CrossRef Google Scholar

Cited by

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Cite this article:

Li R., Ren J.-L., Wang J.-S., et al. (2026). Genomic adaptations for vertical ecological niche diversification in Asian tree frogs. The Innovation Life 4:100243. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-life.2026.100243

Li R., Ren J.-L., Wang J.-S., et al. (2026). Genomic adaptations for vertical ecological niche diversification in Asian tree frogs. The Innovation Life 4:100243. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-life.2026.100243

Welcome!

To request copyright permission to republish or share portions of our works, please visit Copyright Clearance Center's (CCC) Marketplace website at marketplace.copyright.com.

PDF

Figures(7)

Supplementary Information

download_supplementary
SI-Extended-TIL-DOI-243

Article Metrics

Article views(402) PDF downloads(94)

Genomic adaptations for vertical ecological niche diversification in Asian tree frogs

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

PUBLIC SUMMARY

ABSTRACT