By investigating genealogical relationships, we estimated the phylogenetic history and biogeography in the megophryid genus Leptobrachium (sensu lato, including Vibrissaphora) from southern China, Indochina, Thailand and the Sundaland. The genealogical relationships among the 30 named and unnamed taxa were estimated using 2009 bp of sequences from the mitochondrial DNA genes 12S rRNA, tRNA(val), and 16S rRNA using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference methods. The genus Leptobrachium was a well-supported monophyletic group that contained two major clades. One clade had three subclades primarily from disjunct regions including Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia and Java, and Thailand. The Bornean subclade included one species each from the Philippines and Sumatra. The other major clade consisted of two subclades, one from Indochina and the other from southern China (Vibrissaphora). Divergence times estimated an old evolutionary history of each subclade, one that could not be explained by the geohistory of Southeast Asian major landmasses.
Functional diversity is an integrative approach to better understand biodiversity across space and time. In the present study, we investigated the spatiotemporal patterns (i.e., elevation and season) and environmental determinants of anuran functional diversity on Tianping Mountain, northwest Hunan, China. Specifically, 10 transects were established from low (300 m a.s.l.) to high (1 492 m a.s.l.) elevations, and anuran communities were sampled in spring, early summer, midsummer, and autumn in 2017. Four functional diversity indices were computed for each transect in each season using ecomorphological functional traits. Our results demonstrated that these indices had contrasting responses to increasing elevations. However, they did not differ significantly among seasons in terms of temporal patterns. Interestingly, the unique spatiotemporal functional diversity patterns were impacted by distinct environmental variables, such as leaf litter cover, water temperature, number of trees, and water conductivity.