The Paramo Frontino salamander (''Bolitoglossa hypacra'') is a species of

salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

in the family

Plethodontidae Plethodontidae, or lungless salamanders, are a family of salamanders. Most species are native to the Western Hemisphere, from British Columbia to Brazil, although a few species are found in Sardinia, Europe south of the Alps, and South Korea. In ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Western Ranges of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

(Cordillera Occidental) where it is known from the area of its type locality, Páramo Frontino. It is also known from the

Colibri del Sol Bird Reserve Hummingbird of the Sun, known in Spanish as Colibri del Sol Bird Reserve, is a 731 ha nature reserve in Colombia. It lies at the base of the Páramo del Sol volcanic massif west of the city of Medellín in the Antioquia Department, Department o ...

near

Urrao Urrao is a town and municipality of Colombia, located in the subregion southwest of the department of Antioquia. Limited by the north with the municipalities of Frontino and Abriaquí, in the east with the municipalities of Abriaquí, Caic ...

. both areas are in the

Antioquia Department ) , anthem = Himno de Antioquia , image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Antioquia shown in red , image_ma ...

Description

This species was described based on a single adult female, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

, measuring in snout–vent length. The tail length is . The overall dorsal coloration is dark brown, getting lighter (gray brown) ventrally. There is coarse yellow to yellow-range dorsal speckling, and large, scattered yellow lateral spots, some of them extending onto the venter. The tail is sparsely spotted. The hands and feet are greatly reduced webbing.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical high-altitude

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The assessment by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) states that the type locality is within the Paramillo National Natural Park, although this does not agree with the definition of Páramo Frontino elsewhere.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q977289 Bolitoglossa Amphibians of the Andes Amphibians of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Páramo fauna Amphibians described in 1962 Taxa named by David B. Wake Taxonomy articles created by Polbot