Bolitoglossa gracilis Bolaños, Robinson, and Wake, 1987

Class: Amphibia > Order: Caudata > Family: Plethodontidae > Subfamily: Hemidactyliinae > Genus: Bolitoglossa > Species: Bolitoglossa gracilis

Bolitoglossa gracilis Bolaños, Robinson, and Wake, 1987, Rev. Biol. Tropical, 35: 87. Holotype: UCR 9378, by original designation. Type locality: "Río Quirí, about 1 km NE by road from the bridge crossing the Río Grande de Orosi near Tapantí, Cartago Province, Costa Rica, at an elevation of approximately 1, 280 m . . . 9° 47′ 30″ N, 83° 47′ 42″ W, 1280 m".

Bolitoglossa (Eladinea) gracilisParra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 335.

English Names

Rio Quiri Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 29).

Rio Quiri Mushroomtongue Salamander (Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 683).

Distribution

Vicinity of the type locality near Tapantí in lower montane rainforest (1225–1280 m elevation) on the Atlantic slope of Cartago Province, central Costa Rica; also reported from two sites on the eastern slope of the Volcán Turrialba, Rio Vereh Cloud Forest Reserve, and the Caribbean slopes of the Sierra de Talamanca at 1400–1700 m elevation, suggesting that the species may enter Panama.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Costa Rica

Likely/Controversially Present: Panama

Endemic: Costa Rica

Comment

In the Bolitoglossa subpalmata group by implication. Most similar to Bolitoglossa diminuta and Bolitoglossa subpalmata according to the original publication. See account by Savage, 2002, Amph. Rept. Costa Rica: 133. In the Bolitoglossa (Eladinea) subpalmata group of Parra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 336. See García-París, Parra-Olea, and Wake, 2008, Herpetol. J., 18: 23-31, for comments on systematics. See photograph, map, description of geographic range and habitat, and conservation status in Stuart, Hoffmann, Chanson, Cox, Berridge, Ramani, and Young, 2008, Threatened Amph. World: 558. Köhler, 2011, Amph. Cent. Am.: 40–69, compared this species with others from Central America and provided a map and photograph. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 320, provided a brief account, photograph, and map. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 683, provided an account summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map), as well as noting likely unvouchered records from Volcán Turrialba, Río Vereh, and the Sierra Talamanca, eastern Costa Rica. 

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