In Need of a Bolitoglossa Expert..

[MonarchzMan]

So while doing some frog surveys, we came across this little guy in one of my quadrats. I tried to key him out using the Savage book for Costa Rica (this was in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama), and the closest I came was Bolitoglossa schizodactyla, but in reading the description and looking at the picture, I don't quite think that that is right (especially since we found him essentially at sea level).

So, any guesses to what it might be? Here's a bunch of pictures I took of him (if you can't tell, he has a cream belly)

 

[John]

Awesome photos. I don't know enough about this genus to identify it but I know there are folks on here who can, unless it's a new species.

 

[John]

Looks like this photo on amphibiaweb.org:

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=aw_search_index&enlarge=1111+1111+1111+3663

 

[vide]

I can´t to clam to be a Bolitoglossa expert (although it would be cool to be able to call myself that one day!)

I think Bolitoglossa schizodactyla is a good guess! According to what I am reading on ASW B. schizodactyla is known to occour on sea level in central Panama. One of the specimens depicted in the calphotos-database is from one of the Bocas del Toro islands, plus a couple of friends of mine found what is believed to be a B. schizodactyla on one of these islands.

Did you guys check out the video clip on AmphibiaWeb? Pretty sweet! Does anyone know if it is part of a longer production?

It would be cool to hear more about the frog surveys you´re doing.

Cheers, Vide

 

[vide]

Also, thanks for posting those photos, I really enjoyed them!

 

[MonarchzMan]

Huh. It look similar, but I don't know that I'm totally satisfied with it. The combination of the lack of a dorsal irregular stripe, totally webbed digits, and a very light cream belly give me doubts. I might need to find someone here in Panama that knows their salamanders... Hmm...

I'll probably do an update at some point about my frog stuff

 

[MonarchzMan]

Well, I emailed two professors I did herpetology with in Costa Rica, who forwarded me onto Karen Lips because she knows her salamanders (said that schizodactyla has a characteristic eye bar between the eyes, which this doesn't have), so she forwarded me onto a Panamanian scientist working with the Smithsonian who said it was a schizodactyla, just an odd one. That's cool though since they're rare!

 

[John]

That's good to hear back about, JP, thanks.