Although Conraua goliath is well known as the largest living frog species, the diversity and evolution of the genus Conraua across sub‐Saharan Africa remain poorly understood. We present multilocus phylogenetic analyses of the six currently recognized species that provide insights into divergence times, biogeography, body size evolution and undescribed species. An analysis of divergence times demonstrates that crown‐group Conraua arose some time during the latest Oligocene to mid‐Miocene followed by divergence into major lineages in the mid‐Miocene that may reflect the fragmentation of widespread tropical forests in Africa that began at this time. We find three pairs of sister species, C. crassipes + C. beccarii, C. alleni + C. derooi and C. goliath + C. robusta, each of which diverged during the Miocene. These relationships reject phylogenetic hypotheses based solely on biogeography as the geographically peripheral C. beccarii from north‐eastern Africa is nested within western African species and the Central African species do not form a clade. Our species delimitation analyses provide support for undescribed species in C. alleni, C. beccarii and C. derooi, and possibly C. crassipes, suggesting that the current taxonomy substantially underestimates species diversity. There is no clear directional trend of either increasing or decreasing body size in Conraua and the three largest species do not form a clade. With a robust phylogenetic hypothesis in hand, further field‐based studies are needed to understand the evolution of morphology and life history in this charismatic African anuran clade.

中文翻译：

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非洲滑蛙（Anura：Conraua）的进化，包括世界上最大的活蛙

尽管 Conraua goliath 是众所周知的最大的现存青蛙物种，但对 Conraua 属在撒哈拉以南非洲的多样性和进化仍然知之甚少。我们对目前公认的六个物种进行了多位点系统发育分析，这些分析提供了对分歧时间、生物地理学、体型进化和未描述物种的见解。对分化时间的分析表明，冠群 Conraua 出现在最近的渐新世到中中新世的某个时间，随后在中中新世分化为主要谱系，这可能反映了非洲广泛的热带森林在此时开始的破碎化。我们发现了三对姊妹物种，C. crassipes + C. beccarii、C. alleni + C. derooi 和 C. goliath + C.robusta，每一种都在中新世分化。这些关系拒绝仅基于生物地理学的系统发育假设，因为来自非洲东北部的地理外围 C. beccarii 嵌套在西非物种中，而中非物种不形成进化枝。我们的物种定界分析为 C. alleni、C. beccarii 和 C. derooi 以及可能的 C. crassipes 中未描述的物种提供了支持，这表明当前的分类法大大低估了物种多样性。Conraua 的体型增加或减少没有明确的方向趋势，三个最大的物种没有形成一个进化枝。有了强大的系统发育假设，需要进一步的实地研究来了解这个具有魅力的非洲无尾猿进化枝的形态和生活史的演变。