Pleistocene climate fluctuations have created the main phylogeographical structures in the endemic species of the Tibetan plateau, however, patterns of diversification are species idiosyncratic and indicative of variations in geographic divergence. Comparative phylogeography of two endemic birds of the Tibetan plateau carried out by Fumin Lei’s research group revealed that these two species (Onychostruthus taczanowskii and Pseudopodoces humilis) experienced rapid population expansion at times estimated to 0.05–0.16 million years ago (Ma). These expansion periods were congruent with the retreat of the last extensive glacial period (0.5–0.175 Ma). Whereas O. taczanowskiipopulations were derived from a single more widely distributed refugium that existed along the east margin of the Tibetan plateau, P. humilisexpanded from independent refugia that were located within both the northeast and southeast margin of the Tibetan plateau. While both birds experienced similar colonization events, but their phylogeographical structures are quite different. No trace of geographical divergence is found in O. taczanowskii, suggesting considerable gene flow occurred after the postglacial colonization. In contrast, a geographic separation can be detected between two refugia populations of P. humilis, specifically the higher altitude platform and lower altitude edge regional groups. Potential explanation hypothesis for these different phylogeographical structures of the two sympatric birds may include variance in dispersal ability, altitude specific and independent or semicontinuous refugia. These results have been published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 2009, 51:312.