New Dwarf Salamander Found in Costa Rica

LiveScience.com Yahoo News 2 Jan 08;

Two new pinky-sized salamander species and one the size of a fingernail have been discovered crawling around in a remote Costa Rican forest.

The new species, found by botanist Alex Munro of the Natural History Museum, London, and colleagues while on expedition, are among 5,300 plants, insects and amphibians recorded during three explorations of La Amistad National Park on the Costa Rica–Panama border.

La Amistad is the biggest forest reserve in Central America, yet it remains one of the least explored places in the continent. These new discoveries, announced today, increase the number of salamander species in Costa Rica from 40 to 43, making it a center of diversity for these amphibians.

"Finding so many new species in one area is exciting, particularly as this is probably the only place in the world you can find these animals," said Monro, leader of a project to explore La Amistad and record its biodiversity. "It shows we still have a lot to learn about the variety of wildlife in this region. We have four more expeditions planned this year — who knows what we could find when we go back?"

Salamanders are amphibians, not lizards, with slender bodies and short legs, the latter of which they can regenerate if lost. They keep their skin moist, by living near water or swamps.

Two of the new salamanders are from the Bolitoglossa genus and are nocturnal, coming out at night to feed. The first Bolitoglossa species is 3 inches (8 centimeters) long and black, with a bold red stripe down its back and small yellow markings on its side.

The second Bolitoglossa species is 2.3 inches (6 centimeters) long and deep brown with a pale cream underside.

The third salamander is from the Nototriton (dwarf salamander) genus and is a mere 1 inch (3 centimeters) in length, with red-brown coloring and black markings on its side.

The specimens will be studied and named later by scientists at the University of Costa Rica, where they will form part of the national collections.

The expeditions are part of a project funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative to provide baseline information to underpin the conservation of La Amistad National Park. The Natural History Museum is working in partnership with Costa Rica’s national biodiversity institute, INBio, the University of Costa Rica, the University of Panama and Panama’s national parks authority.

La Amistad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it represents the most remote part of the Talamanca Mountains, mainly due to the treacherous terrain and lack of roads. It has been estimated that two thirds of all Costa Rica’s native species live there, including more than 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, 600 species of birds, 215 species of mammals and 14,000 species of plant.

Bio-rich Costa Rica's new marvels
BBC News 4 Jan 08;

Three new species of salamander have been discovered in a remote forest reserve in Costa Rica.

They were among some 5,000 plants and animals recorded by scientists from London's Natural History Museum during three expeditions to Central America.

Two species are nocturnal, while the third is a dwarf variety, growing to little longer than a thumbnail.

The three new finds bring the number of Costa Rican salamanders known to science to a total of 43.

Salamanders eat insects and worms, and live in water or in moist areas. They usually feed at night and hide during the day, often hibernating during the winter.

Some 300 species are known around the world, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, but there have been few new discoveries since 1998, when five new salamanders were found in tropical east-central Mexico.

The three new salamanders were found in La Amistad National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site on the Costa Rica-Panama border.

Two belong to the nocturnal Bolitoglossa genus; while the third, from the Nototriton (dwarf salamander) family, is a diminutive 3cm (1 inch) in length.

"Finding so many new species in one area is exciting, particularly as this is probably the only place in the world you can find these animals," said the NHM's Dr Alex Monro, who is leading the project.

"It shows we still have a lot to learn about the variety of wildlife in this region. We have four more expeditions planned this year - who knows what we could find when we go back?"

La Amistad National Park has few roads and treacherous terrain, so remains largely unexplored.

Scientists believe the region is a centre for diversity for these tailed amphibians. It is thought to be home to some two-thirds of all Costa Rica's native species, including hundreds of birds, mammals, reptiles and other amphibians, and thousands of plants.

The new species will be named and catalogued by scientists at the University of Costa Rica. The Natural History Museum is working alongside scientists and officials in Costa Rica and Panama on the project, funded by the UK government's Darwin Initiative to promote biodiversity conservation.

Three New Salamanders Found in Remote Cloud Forests
James Owen, National Geographic News 4 Jan 08;

Three previously unknown salamanders have been discovered in remote cloud forests in Central America, scientists announced yesterday.

The newly revealed amphibians, including a dwarf salamander just the width of a fingernail and a creature with lurid markings resembling a poison frog's, were found in La Amistad International Park on the Costa Rica-Panama border.

The discoveries were made last year during expeditions led by Alex Monro of the Natural History Museum in London.

La Amistad is Central America's biggest rain forest reserve, but much it remains completely unstudied, Monro said.

The new species, which increase the number of salamanders known in Costa Rica to 45, probably don't exist anywhere else in world, the biologist added.

"These particular species will have very small ranges," he said. "This area hadn't been explored, so they just weren't known before."

Unusual Finds

The amphibians, which have not yet been named, include a dwarf salamander just 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long. From the genus Nototriton, the tiny creature lives in mosses and leaf litter.

The other newfound species belong to Bolitoglossa, a genus that hunts small insects at night.

One species is deep brown in color with a pale cream underside.

The other, measuring three inches (eight centimeters) in length, has a bright red back and yellow blotches down each side. Its conspicuous coloration resembles the warning markings of poison arrow frogs, Monro noted.

All three creatures are very slow moving, he added, "but they have this ballistic tongue that shoots out at incredible speeds and wraps around prey."

The salamanders were among 5,300 plant, insect, and amphibian species recorded during three expeditions to the cloud forests of La Amistad, a 490,000-acre (198,000-hectare) United Nations World Heritage site that reaches elevations of more than 11,000 feet (3,350 meters) in places.

Two suspected new frog species and several unknown plants have also been identified as part of the project, which is funded by the U.K. government's Darwin Initiative to survey biodiversity in the region.

The La Amistad project also aims to shed light on the causes of a worldwide decline in tropical amphibians highlighted by recent studies.

Falling populations and extinctions have been linked to factors such as global warming, habitat loss, pollution, and a fungus found growing on dead and dying amphibians, Monro said.

"If this is a response to climate change, then we would expect amphibians to be shifting their range upwards as it gets warmer, and there is some evidence of that," he said.

"We have already documented a significant increase in elevation from one frog species."

Salamander Hunt

Hunting the salamanders was painstaking work because of their small size and nocturnal habits, Monro added.

A survey area was marked out during the day, and the study team returned at night.

Likening the task to police investigating a crime scene, Monro said researchers had to pick through leaf litter and mossy tree trunks.

"They had to tease apart mosses and loose bark and look all around in very close detail," he said. "In a night, they will have probably done only a few trees and maybe a hundred meters of pathway."

Future Expeditions

Because of the obscurity of the region, four further expeditions are planned for 2008.

"Central America is quite a densely populated region, so it's amazing there are areas like this remaining which are relatively unexplored," Monro said.

The wildlife is protected largely thanks to the park's remoteness and inhospitable terrain, he added.

"It's very steep, very wet forest, and there are no roads, partly because it would be so difficult to put any in," Monro said.

Team member Eduardo Boza, a herpetologist at the University of Costa Rica, pointed out that Bolitoglossa is the most diverse salamander group in Costa Rica, with 21 described species. But much about the group remains mysterious.

Some species are known from less than five specimens, for instance, he said by email.

"They don't have lungs but breathe through their skin, and they don't live in water at any time," Boza said.

Instead of breeding aquatically, the amphibians lay eggs or give birth to live young on the forest floor, he said.

"Costa Rica is one of the best studied countries in the world at the level of herpetology, but despite this we are still describing new species," Boza added.

"Probably there will be more new species discovered in coming trips."