The cloud forest back home is probably one of my favorite ecosystems. You wake up inside a cloud thinking it might go away soon, but most of the day (sometimes the entire day) you are wandering within the clouds in a lovely forest full of arborescent ferns, bromeliads, orchids, bryophytes, that make you feel like you were in the Triassic/Jurassic (at least how its depicted in movies). Within this forest live several amazing amphibian species, one of which we will talk about here today: the salamander Bolitoglossa helmrichi.
Bolito-what?
The genus Bolitoglossa (family: Plethodontidae, a.k.a. lungless salamanders) is one of the richest genera of neotropical salamanders. We can find species from this genus from northern Mexico all the way down to South America. However, Nuclear Central America (the region between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Nicaraguan Depression) is considered one of the centers of diversity for this group of salamanders.
Interestingly enough, Plethodontidae is the only family of salamanders that you can find in Guatemala. Nonetheless, we have more than 60 species from this family in the whole country! And new species are being discovered almost on a yearly basis! The whole groups’ biogeographical history is quite interesting, but I’ll have to leave that for a future post!
The Cobán-mushroom-tongue salamander (Bolitoglossa helmrichi Schmidt 1936) (or to translate the local common name: “sleeping child”), is one of them, and it is endemic to Guatemala.
Endemic?
Endemic means that it only exists in a certain geographical region and nowhere else in the world!
Habitat
As I mentioned above, we are talking about a lungless salamander, so they really depend on their cutaneous respiration (i.e. they breathe through their skin!). Therefore, you can imagine that temperature and humidity are two very important factors for them to survive!
This species lives in what is called the “cloud forest”; or, to use the Holdridge life zone classification (nerd alert: long name coming): tropical and subtropical (altitudinally) moist montane (broad-leaf) forest, between 1000-2500 m above sea level. However, according to the 2008 IUCN assessment for this species, they are quite tolerant of shade-grown coffee plantations.
The cutest limbs ever! Don’t you agree?
Compared to salamanders from other genera, the Bolitoglossa have way more webbing on their feet. The padding of their membranous toes helps them climb through the vegetation. This way they can avoid other predators that don’t have this climbing ability! This is believed to be a character derived after the “neotropical colonization” of salamanders (as the Caudata group actually originated in the Northern Hemisphere); although the theories behind this traits’ development are still under discussion.
But who cares about a salamander?! Right?!
Although these are some “secretive” organisms that you might not easily find, they are usually very abundant in their habitats and play a very important role! They provide us plenty ecosystem services, from climate-regulating to medical applications. Their food-web contribution, because of their role as predators (particularly of invertebrates who have fed on detritus), plays a big part in an ecosystem nutrient dynamics and carbon sequestration. They play an important role in energy and nutrient cycles between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and they are natural pest control. Their skin secretions can also have important medical applications. And much much more!
In the Neotropics, they are also a cheaper way to asses an ecosystems quality (and let’s face it, we are always in need of effective cheaper methods!).
Sadly, this species does face some threats
B. helmrichi is under the “near threatened” category within the IUCN list. Its main threats are habitat destruction, mainly due to the expansion of agriculture and aquaculture in the region, and logging. Also, to some extent, the belief that they are venomous (which is false!) prevails in some communities, which causes people to kill them.
There still is a lot unknown about this species life history, ecology, and population dynamics, but for sure we need to preserve their habitat and its quality in order to keep the species thriving. Also so we can learn more about them! Luckily, within their habitat range there are several efforts through National Parks and Private Reserves with the goal of recovering and conserving the habitat and its species! (And we can always do more!)
Did I forget something? Is there something else you would like to know? Let me know in the comments!
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References:
- Wake, D.B. & A.H. Brame. 1969. Systematics and Evolution of Neotropical Salamanders of the Bolitoglossa helmrichi Group. Contributions in Science. Los Angeles County Museum. No.175
- Parra-Olea, G., M. Garcia-Paris, & D.B. Wake. 2004. Molecular Diversification of Salamanders of the Tropical American Genus Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) and its Evolutionary and Biogeographical Implications. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 81(3):325-346
- Rovito, S.M., C.r. Vasquez-Almazan, & T.J. Papenfuss. 2010. A New Species of Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the Sierra de las Minas, Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology. 44(4):516-525
- Hocking, D.J. & K.J. Babbitt. 2013. Amphibian Contributions to Ecosystem Services. Herpetological Conservation and Biology. 9(1):1-17
- Best, M.L & H.H. Welsh. 2014. The Trophic Role of a Forest Salamander: Impacts on Invertebrates, Leaf Litter Retention, and the Humification Process. Ecosphere. 2(5)
- Vasquez-Almazan, C.R. & S.M. Rovito. 2014. A New Species of Black Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology. 48(4):518-524
- Acevedo, M., D. Wake, T. Papenfuss, S. Rovito, & Vasquez, C. 2008. Bolitoglossa helmrichi The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T59167A11881215