Lost in the Amazon: Rediscovery of the Rio Santa Rosa Mushroomtongue Salamander (Caudata: Plethondontidae) from Ayacucho, Peru

Herrera-Alva V.; Castillo-Urbina E.; Catenazzi A.; Fajardo L.; Ñaccha K.; Aguilar-Puntriano C. · Zootaxa (2025) · DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5594.3.7

Resumen

Bolitoglossa digitigrada Wake, Brame and Thomas, 1982 was described from a few kilometers upstream from the Rio Santa Rosa, Ayacucho Region, Peru, at 1000 m a.s.l. in the Eastern Amazonian Montane Forest. Besides the type specimens, no additional collections or sightings of B. digitigrada had been reported for 43 years, and there is no information about its phylogenetic position inside its group. During a field expedition conducted in October 2022, we found four individuals of B. digitigrada in a corn and banana field near the community of San Jose, approximately 2.7 km from the type locality. Here, we provide information about living specimens, update description of coloration in life, elevation, and evaluate the phylogenetic relationships of B. digitigrada with a molecular phylogeny based on a 16S rRNA sequence.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos