The Big Headed Treefrog, Polypedates megacephalus Hallowell, 1861, is widespread throughout subtropical and tropical regions from northeastern India to South Myanmar. In Vietnam, P. megacephalus is currently known in the North. However, the knowledge about the feeding ecology of this White-lipped Treefrog is still lacking. As a result of our field trips in Son La and Lai Chau provinces, northern Vietnam, this study provides novel data about the feeding ecology of P. megacephalus. We used the stomach-flushing method to obtain the stomach contents of 232 individuals at three sites. A total of 19 prey categories with 415 items were found in the stomachs of P. megacephalus. This species has a wide food spectrum and the dominant prey items of P. megacephalus were Araneae, Opiliones, insect larvae, Blattodea, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isoptera, and Orthoptera. The importance index for these categories ranged from 1.87% to 31.03%. Orthoptera was the prey category with the highest frequency of occurrence and its representatives were found in 81 stomachs. The result of multiple regression analysis indicated that both snout-vent length and mouth width were associated positively with prey sizes consumed by P. megacephalus.

Studies on genetic relationships and phylogenetic origins, and mutations in nucleotide of Leiolepis in central Vietnam are limited. In this study, thirty-five representative samples of four species (Leiolepis reevesii, L. guttata, L. guentherpetersi, and L. rubritaeniata) from multiple provinces in central Vietnam were collected for identification based on 16S rRNA sequences. The results from phylogenetic analyses showed that L. rubritaeniata is highly genetically conserved and was unique for the Central Highland areas. Patterns, colors, and genetic characteristics of the population of L. reevesii in Thanh Hoa Province exhibited differences between the populations in Thua Thien Hue Province. The population of L. guentherpetersi had the closest sister relationship to the population of L. guttata found in the same province, supporting a hypothesis that the origin of the triploid L. guentherpetersi from L. guttata. Leiolepis reevesii populations found in Thanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue provinces were not in the same clade for both morphology and genetics. Lastly, the overall similarity between L. rubritaeniata and L. reevesii populations further suggesting that both species were originally from the same clade with a diversification occuring to adapt to the ecological conditions.