Bolitoglossa mexicana Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854

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

Bolitoglossa mexicana Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 95. Syntypes: MNHNP 4747 (2 specimens), according to Stuart, 1963, Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, 122: 18; MNHNP 4747A designated lectotype by Smith and Taylor, 1966, Herpetol. Mexico, Preface: 5. This number in error for 4747 according to Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 40-42, who considered the number to be 4747 and the lectotype designation invalid (although it was valid—DRF). This same specimen was identified as that illustrated by Brocchi, 1883, Miss. Scient. Mex. Amer. Centr., Rech. Zool., 3(2, livr. 3): pl. 18, fig. 3, by Smith, 1966, in Smith and Taylor, Herpetol. Mexico). Type localities: "province d'Oaxaca au Mexique" and "Vera Crux"; corrected to Dolores, Peten (Guatemala) by Schmidt, 1936, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., 20: 146; Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 40; and by lectotype designation according to García-París, Parra-Olea, Brame, and Wake, 2002, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 16: 62. Restricted (in error) to "San Felipe, Cerro (15 kilometers northeast of Oaxaca)", Oaxaca, Mexico, by Smith and Taylor, 1950, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 33: 339. See nomenclatural discussions by Smith, 1945, Herpetologica, 3: 13-17, Thireau, 1986, Cat. Types Urodeles Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Rev. Crit.: 40–42, and García-París, Parra-Olea, Brame, and Wake, 2002, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 16: 62.

Salamandra togata Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 94. Nomen nudum. Coined in synonymy of Salamandra mexicana Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 94, and attributed to Valenciennes.

Salamandra mexicana Duméril, Bibron, and Duméril, 1854, Erp. Gen., 9: 94. Alternative name for Bolitoglossa mexicana and attributed to Cuvier. Raffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 296, provided a brief account, photograph, and map.

Spelerpes mexicana — Hallowell, 1856, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 8: 11.

Pseudotriton mexicanus — Jan, 1857, Cenni Mus. Civ. Milano: 55.

Spelerpes mexicanum — Brocchi, 1883, Miss. Scient. Mex. Amer. Centr., Rech. Zool., 3(2, livr. 3): 113.

Geotriton mexicana — Garman, 1884, Bull. Essex Inst., 16: 40.

Spelerpes mexicanus — Dugès, 1894, Naturaleza, Ser. 2, 2: 377.

Oedipus mexicanus — Schmidt, 1936, Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Publ., Zool. Ser., 20: 146.

Bolitoglossa mexicana — Taylor, 1944, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 30: 219.

Bolitoglossa moreleti Smith, 1945, Herpetologica, 3: 17. Holotype: USNM 116079, by original designation. Type locality: "from a bromeliad in the vicinity of Palenque, Chiapas", Mexico. Synonymy by Neill and Allen, 1959, Publ. Res. Div. Ross Allen’s Rept. Inst., 2: 20, and García-París, Parra-Olea, Brame, and Wake, 2002, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 16: 63. Tighe, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 654: 23, noted the current location of paratypes.

Bolitoglossa mexicana mexicana — Neill and Allen, 1959, Publ. Res. Div. Ross Allen’s Rept. Inst., 2: 20.

Bolitoglossa (Bolitoglossa) mexicana — Parra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 335.

Common Names

Mexican Mushroomtongue Salamander (Liner, 1994, Herpetol. Circ., 23: 10; Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 30; Lee, 2000, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Maya World: 53).

Mexican Mushroom-tonged Salamander (Liner and Casas-Andreu, 2008, Herpetol. Circ., 38: 29).

Galliwasp (Ananjeva, Borkin, Darevsky, and Orlov, 1988, Dict. Amph. Rept. Five Languages: 24).

Black-and-Gold Salamander (Campbell, 1998, Amph. Rept. N. Guatemala Yucatan Belize: 37).

Distribution

Atlantic slope from southern Veracruz (Mexico) across the base of the Yucatan Peninsula, with an isolated population in northern part of Yucatan Peninsula, to Honduras (extending to the Pacific versant in Ocotepeque) and El Salvador (Departamento de Chalatenango, Municipio de La Palma, Cerro La Palma), sea level to 2054 m elevation; expected in northern Nicaragua. 

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico

Likely/Controversially Present: Nicaragua

Comment

In the subgenus Bolitoglossa according to Parra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 336, formerly the Bolitoglossa mexicana group. García-París, Parra-Olea, and Wake, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 199–214, provided evidence that nominal Bolitoglossa mexicana is composed of multiple lineages. See also accounts by Lee, 1996, Amph. Rept. Yucatan Peninsula: 41–42, Campbell, 1998, Amph. Rept. N. Guatemala Yucatan Belize: 37–38, and Lee, 2000, Field Guide Amph. Rept. Maya World: 53–54. McCranie and Wilson, 2002, Amph. Honduras: 120–124, provided an account and noted that García-París, Parra-Olea, and Wake, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 199–214, had demonstrated via molecular analysis that the populations of "Bolitoglossa mexicana" in Honduras were assignable to two morphologically indistinguishable species, one more closely related to Bolitoglossa odonnelli than to Bolitoglossa mexicana. García-París, Parra-Olea, Brame, and Wake, 2002, Rev. Esp. Herpetol., 16: 49, considered this species to be the sister taxon of Bolitoglossa yucatana. These authors also noted that it was not fully resolved if the type of Bolitoglossa mexicana was not representative of what is currently referred to as Bolitoglossa odonnelli. In addition, they regarded populations in Honduras as representing an undescribed species which they referred to only as members of the Bolitoglossa mexicana complex. McCranie, 2007, Herpetol. Rev., 38: 36, summarized the departmental distribution in Honduras. McCranie and Valdés-Orellana, 2011, Herpetol. Rev., 42: 105, provided a Pacific versant record in the department of Ocotepeque, Honduras. 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.: 307–308, provided a brief account, photograph, and map. García-Padilla and Mata-Silva, 2014, Mesoam. Herpetol., 1: 293, provided an atltitudinal record for Chiapas, Mexico. Morán-Hidalgo, Ruballo-Marroquín, and Vásquez, 2015, Cuad. Herpetol., 29: 161–162, provided the first record for El Salvador (Departamento de Chalatenango, municipio de La Palma, Cerro La Palma). McCranie, Sunyer, and Martínez-Fonseca, 2019, Rev. Nicaraguense Biodiversidad, 52: 24, suggested the species would be found in northeastern Nicaragua. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 648–652, provided an account summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). 

External links:

Please note: these links will take you to external websites not affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History. We are not responsible for their content.