The small European green frog (Pelophylax lessonae) is among the 28 species studied. - Christophe Dufresnes (DEE, UNIL)
A study reveals that over the course of their evolution, frogs of the family Ranidae have changed their sex chromosomes at least thirteen times. This is the highest documented turnover among vertebrates. Unlike humans and other mammals, ranids use at least five different pairs of sex chromosomes. In the red frog, the most common amphibian in Switzerland, the main gene that determines the sex of an individual - male or female - is located on chromosome pair 1. In its green cousin, it is located on chromosome pair 3. This indicates that in the course of their evolution, some species have diverged from their common ancestor to change their sex chromosome. By creating a phylogenetic tree, a diagram that shows the relationships between 28 species of ranids, Daniel Lee Jeffries and Guillaume Lavanchy, respectively post-doctoral and doctoral students at the Department of Ecology and Evolution of the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, were able to quantify and date these transitions.
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