Sunday, May 17, 2020

[Herpetology • 2020] Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana • A New Species of Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the central Highlands of Guerrero, Mexico


Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana
Palacios-Aguilar, Cisneros-Bernal, Arias-Montiel & Parra-Olea, 2020

Coaxtlahuacán Salamander |  DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2019-0244 
Salamandra de Coaxtlahuacán ||  facebook.com/herpmx

Abstract
We describe a new species of salamander of Bolitoglossa (Oaxakia) Parra-Olea, García-París and Wake, 2004 from the cloud forests of the central portion of the Sierra Madre del Sur highlands in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana sp. nov. is currently known only from the type locality and can be differentiated from other members of the group by morphological, coloration, and molecular evidence. With the description of this new taxon, the number of species in the subgenus Oaxakia increases to six.

Keywords: Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana, salamander, Sierra Madre del Sur, taxonomy


 Holotype of Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana (MZFC 32985): in situ when collected.

 Holotype of Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana (MZFC 32985): overall habitus.

Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana sp. nov.
 Coaxtlahuacán Salamander, 
Salamandra de Coaxtlahuacán

ETYMOLOGY: The species name refers to the small village of Coaxtlahuacán, Guerrero, from which the type series was obtained, and honors its inhabitants for their helpfulness and friendliness while conducting our fieldwork since late 2015.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT: Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana is known only from the type locality in a small mountain range that we call herein as Sierra de Mochitlán because it covers most of the municipality of Mochitlán, Guerrero (Fig. 3). The main vegetation formation at the type locality consists of humid oak forests with distinct degrees of perturbance. However, in many ravines and trails mostly in the southward slopes of this small mountain range, a more “cloud forest like” vegetation is present where ferns, mosses, orchids, and bromeliads abound (either in epiphytic and saxicolous situations) and dominant tree species show a mixture of both tropical and temperate representatives.


Fig. 3. Distribution map of the members of the Bolitoglossa macrinii group in southern Mexico. Figure was created using QGIS version 2.18.19 and assembled from the following data sources (shapefiles): Continuo de Elevaciones Mexicano 3.0 (CEM 3.0) (INEGI); Estados Unidos Mexicanos, División estatal (INEGI); MapSurfer ASTER GDEM-SRTM Hillshade (MapSurfer.NET); World Country Boundaries (DIVA–GIS); and locality records of each species compiled consulting electronic (VertNet) and museum (MZFC) databases and specialized literature (see text). 


Ricardo Palacios-Aguilar, Antonio Yolocalli Cisneros-Bernal, J. Diego Arias-Montiel, and Gabriela Parra-Olea. 2020. A New Species of Bolitoglossa (Amphibia: Plethodontidae) from the central Highlands of Guerrero, Mexico. Canadian Journal of Zoology. DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2019-0244  

    

Résumé: Nous décrivons une nouvelle espèce de salamandre du sous-genre Bolitoglossa (Oaxakia) Parra-Olea, García-París et Wake, 2004, des forêts de nuages de la partie centrale des hautes terres de la Sierra Madre del Sur, dans l’État mexicain de Guerrero. Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana sp. nov. n’est actuellement connu que de la localité type et peut être distingué d’autres membres du groupe sur la base d’observations morphologiques, moléculaires et relatives à la coloration. La description de ce nouveau taxon fait passer le nombre d’espèces dans le sous-genre Oaxakia à six. 
[Traduit par la Rédaction] 
Mots-clés: Bolitoglossa coaxtlahuacana, salamandre, Sierra Madre del Sur, taxonomie