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| Bolitoglossa cathyledecae Ponce, Navarro, Morales & Batista, 2022 Photo by Marcos Ponce. |
Abstract
We describe a new species of salamander of the genus Bolitoglossa from the Cordillera de Talamanca in western Panama. The new species is distinct from its congeners by its dorsal and ventral coloration, finger and toe webbing, and a comparatively high maxillary teeth count in relation to SVL. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed an isolated phylogenetic position of the new species which is related to the B. robinsoni, B. subpalmata and B. epimela species groups, all four of which form a subclade within the subgenus Eladinea.
Keywords: Amphibia, Bolitoglossa cathyledecae sp. nov., La Amistad International Park, DNA barcoding, Eladinea, Serranía de Talamanca.
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| Holotype of Bolitoglossa cathyledecae sp. nov. (MHCH 3240) in life; A–B) Details of head; C–D) Body coloration in life. Photograph by Marcos Ponce. |
Bolitoglossa cathyledecae sp. nov.
Chiriqui fire salamander,
Salamandra de fuego chiricana
Diagnosis: Assigned to genus Bolitoglossa due to having fewer than 14 costal grooves and lacking a sublingual fold, and to subgenus Eladinea based on mtDNA sequence data. Bolitoglossa cathyledecae is differentiated from all known species of the subgenus Eladinea by the combination of the following characters: (1) Unique coloration consisting of pinkish-flesh with flame-scarlet speckles, ventral salmon color; (2) Moderately small size with wide head HW/SVL=0.21; (3) moderate -sized extremities; (4) digits with moderate to extensive webbing on the hands and feet; (5) prehensile and considerably longer tail than body TL/SVL=1.5; (6) high tooth counts: premaxillary (7), maxillary teeth (78).
Etymology. The specific epithet of this beautiful new species honors Cathy Ledec, a passionate conservationist and long-time supporter of conservational organizations working to preserve the habitat of salamanders in the Neotropics.
Distribution. Bolitoglossa cathyledecae is known only from one site within the montane rain forest life zone (sensu Holdridge 1967) along the northeastern mid-elevation slopes of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in the vicinity of the continental divide between Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro, within the La Amistad National Park, district Boquete, at about 1900 m above sea level.
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| Bolitoglossa cathyledecae sp. nov. Color variation in the paratypes. A) Dorsum in daytime coloration (MHCH 3242); B-C) Details of head and dorsum in daytime coloration (MHCH 3241); D) Paratype at the moment of encounter at night (MHCH 3242). Photographs taken by Marcos Ponce. |
Marcos Ponce, Deivy Navarro, Roger Morales and Abel Batista. 2022. A New Salamander of the Genus Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the highlands of western Panama. Zootaxa. 5129(4); 543-556. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5129.4.4
