Savage's salamander (''Bolitoglossa savagei''), also known as Savage's mushroomtongue salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia ( Magdalena Department). The record from Venezuela represents another species, likely ''

Bolitoglossa guaramacalensis The Guaramacal salamander (''Bolitoglossa guaramacalensis''), also known as the holy-mountain salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Cordillera de Mérida, Venezuela. The Venezuelan specimen firs ...

''. The species is named after

Jay M. Savage Jay Mathers Savage (born August 1928 in Santa Monica, California) is an American herpetologist known for his research on reptiles and amphibians of Central America. He is a past president of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists ...

, an American herpetologist.

Description

Males measure and females in snout–vent length. The tail is slightly shorter or longer than the body. The hands and feet are partially to nearly fully webbed. Colouration is variable, dorsally light or dark brown, with a clear longitudinal band, mottling, or simply uniform.

Habitat and conservation

''Bolitoglossa savagei'' is found in montane forests 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 ...

. It primarily lives (and breeds) in arboreal

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

s, but may sometimes occur in decaying logs and stumps or under decaying leaves. It may co-occur in bromeliads with the frog ''

Pristimantis tayrona ''Tachiramantis tayrona'' is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is endemic to the north-western Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The specific name ''tayrona'' refers to the pre-Columbian Tairona culture. Lynch and Ru� ...

''. Habitat loss from deforestation is a threat to this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2212025 Bolitoglossa Amphibians of Colombia Endemic fauna of Colombia Amphibians described in 1963 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot