2021/05/03 by HELLEN DAHINTEN-BAILEY, Marcelo José Serrano, MARGARITA ALONSO-ASCENCIO +5 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Biology #Caudata #Clade #Cloud forest #Deserts and xeric shrublands #Ecology #Endemism #Habitat #Montane ecology #Phylogenetics #Salamander #Scarabaeidae Beetle Taxonomy and Biogeography #Sister group #Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation #Zoology
paper · pdf · doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4966.2.7
openalex publication_date 2021/05/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We describe Bolitoglossa qeqom sp. nov. from an isolated cloud forest in Cerro Guachmalén, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, based on multiple lines of evidence (morphological, molecular, and biogeographic data). This region comprises a mountain ridge without previous herpetological surveys. The new species is a large salamander with uniform purplish-black coloration and is distinguished by having relatively long legs with only one costal groove between adpressed limbs, numerous maxillary teeth, few vomerine teeth, only one phalange free of webbing in digit III of feet, and a relatively short tail. It is geographically closest to its sister clade of B. lincolni + B. franklini and the xeric Chixoy river canyon appears to be the major biogeographic barrier that isolated the new taxon. The cloud forest inhabited by this species has undergone severe habitat destruction in the region and land conservation actions are urgent.