Bolitoglossa meliana Wake and Lynch, 1982

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

Bolitoglossa meliana Wake and Lynch, 1982, Herpetologica, 38: 258. Holotype: MVZ 160736, by original designation. Type locality: "vicinity of Santa Rosa Pass, 9 km NE Santa Cruz del Quiché, El Quiché, Guatemala (elevation 2520 m)".

Bolitoglossa (Magnadigita) melianaParra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 336.

English Names

Guatemalan Mushroomtongue Salamander (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 30).

Chuacus Black Mushroomtongue Salamander (Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 763).

Distribution

Known from cloud forest in the western part of the Sierra de Chuacús in the department of Quiché, Guatemala., 1550 to 2730 m elevation.  

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Guatemala

Endemic: Guatemala

Comment

In the Bolitoglossa (Magnadigita) franklini group of Parra-Olea, García-París, and Wake, 2004, Biol. J. Linn. Soc., 81: 336. Highton, 2000, in Bruce et al., Biol. Plethodontid Salamanders: 222, suggested that this species might be a composite of more than one species. 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: 561. Vázquez-Almazán and Rovito, 2014, J. Herpetol., 48: 518–524, subsequently named Bolitoglossa tenebrosa, from the Sierra de las Minas, Departamento Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, and this required the redelimitation of the range of Bolitoglossa melianaRaffaëlli, 2013, Urodeles du Monde, 2nd ed.: 348, provided a brief account, photograph, and range map. Raffaëlli, 2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World: 763, provided an account summarizing systematics, life history, population status, and distribution (including a polygon map). 

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