两栖类扩散能力有限，容易受历史地质、气候事件等因素的影响而产生分歧演化，是研究生物地理的良好模式生物。
杨君兴研究员课题组（张明旺，饶定齐，杨君兴，余国华等）通过对分布于云南哀牢山和无量山的哀牢髭蟾的种群分子谱系地理学研究发现：该种群分为四个遗传差异明显的谱系，分化时间与晚中新世至中上新世哀牢山的快速抬升和同时并行的红河的快速下切形成高山峡谷的古地质时间吻合。由于该种只分布中海拔（2000米左右），即接近山顶的常绿阔叶林下湿冷的溪流生境中，因此低海拔干热的河谷成为其不适宜的生境而成为种群间基因交流的障碍（陆上的岛屿效应）。同时，受更新世冰期的影响，在该种的南部的分布区有不同谱系的重叠区（从北向南迁移）。该研究结果已于2010年发表在Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (54: 47–58)上。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2010 Jan;54(1):47-58. Epub 2009 Oct 19.
Molecular phylogeography and population structure of a mid-elevation montane frog Leptobrachium ailaonicum in a fragmented habitat of southwest China.
Zhang M, Rao D, Yang J, Yu G, Wilkinson JA.
Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China.
Abstract
Leptobrachium ailaonicum is a vulnerable anuran restricted to a patchy distribution associated with small mountain streams surrounded by forested slopes at mid-elevations (approximately 2000-2600m) in the subtropical Mount Wuliang and Mount Ailao ranges in southwest China (Yunnan Province) and northern Vietnam. Given high habitat specificity and lack of suitable habitat in lower elevations between these ranges, we hypothesized limited gene flow between populations throughout its range. We used two mitochondrial genes to construct a phylogeographic pattern within this species in order to test our hypothesis. We also examined whether this phylogeographic pattern is a response to past geological events and/or climatic oscillations. A total of 1989 base pairs were obtained from 81 individuals of nine populations yielding 51 unique haplotypes. Both Bayesian and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses revealed four deeply divergent and reciprocally monophyletic mtDNA lineages that approximately correspond to four geographical regions separated by deep river valleys. These results suggest a long history of allopatric separation by vicariance. The distinct geographic distributions of four major clades and the estimated divergence time suggest spatial and temporal separations that coincide with climatic and paleogeographic changes following the orogeny and uplift of Mount Ailao during the late Miocene to mid Pliocene in southwest China. At the southern distribution, the presence of two sympatric yet differentiated clades in two areas are interpreted as a result of secondary contact between previously allopatric populations during cooler Pleistocene glacial cycles. Analysis of molecular variance indicates that most of the observed genetic variation occurs among the four regions implying long-term interruption of maternal gene flow, suggesting that L. ailaonicum may represent more than one distinct species and should at least be separated into four management units corresponding to these four geographic lineages for conservation.
