Abstract
We describe Bolitoglossa qeqom sp. nov. from an isolated cloud forest in Cerro Guachmalén, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, based on multiple lines of evidence (morphological, molecular, and biogeographic data). This region comprises a mountain ridge without previous herpetological surveys. The new species is a large salamander with uniform purplish-black coloration and is distinguished by having relatively long legs with only one costal groove between adpressed limbs, numerous maxillary teeth, few vomerine teeth, only one phalange free of webbing in digit III of feet, and a relatively short tail. It is geographically closest to its sister clade of B. lincolni + B. franklini and the xeric Chixoy river canyon appears to be the major biogeographic barrier that isolated the new taxon. The cloud forest inhabited by this species has undergone severe habitat destruction in the region and land conservation actions are urgent.
References
Ariano-Sánchez, D. (2017) Introducción al bosque seco: distribución y ecología. In: Yoshimoto, J. & Ariano-Sánchez, D. (Eds.), El Bosque Estacionalmente Seco de Guatemala: Flora, Fauna y Cultura. Pronatura Japan, Guatemala, pp. 9–23.
AVMA (2018) Guidelines for the euthanasia of animals. American Veterinary Medical Association, Schaumburg, Illinois, 121 pp.
Brodie, E.D., JR., Acevedo, M. & Campbell, J.A. (2012) New salamanders of the genus Oedipina (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology, 46, 233–240.
https://doi.org/10.1670/11-106
Campbell, J.A., Smith, E.N., Streicher, J., Acevedo, M.E. & Brodie Jr, E.D. (2010) New salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Guatemala with miscellaneous notes on known species. Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, 200, 1–60.
Cano, E.B., Schuster, J.C. & Morrone, J.J. (2018) Phylogenetics of Ogyges Kaup and the biogeography of Nuclear Central America (Coleoptera, Passalidae). Zookeys, 737, 81–111.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.737.20741
Castoe, T.A., Daza, J.M., Smith, E.N., Sasa, M.M., Kuch, U., Campbell, J.A., Chippindale,P.T. & Parkinson, C.L. (2009) Comparative phylogeography of pitvipers suggests a consensus of ancient Middle American highland biogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 36, 88–103.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01991.x
Edler, D., Klein, J., Antonelli, A., Silvestro, D. (2020) raxmlGUI 2.0: A graphical interface and toolkit for phylogenetic analyses using RAxML. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 12, 373–377.
https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13512
Elias, P. (1984) Salamanders of the northwestern highlands of Guatemala. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles, 348, 1–20.
Grajeda-Estrada, R, Rustrián-López, J.P., Serrano, M.J., Villalobos-Soberanis, A., Maldonado, M.L., Álvarez-Ruano, M.R. & Dix, M.A. (2020) The elusive Sobralia amabilis (Orchidacae): a range extension of its distribution to Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, with notes on its habitat. Lankesteriana, 20, 1–6.
https://doi.org/10.15517/lank.v20i1.40754
Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, J., Zaldívar-Riverón, A., Solano-Zavaleta, I., Campbell, J.A., Meza- Lázaro, R.N., Flores-Villela, O. & Nieto-Montes de Oca, A. (2021) Phylogenomics of the Mesoamerican alligator-lizard genera Abronia and Mesaspis (Anguidae: Gerrhonotinae) reveals multiple independent clades of arboreal and terrestrial species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 154, 106963.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106963
Huelsenbeck, J.P. & Ronquist, F. (2001) MRBAYES: Bayesian inference of phylogeny. Bioinformatics, 17, 754–755.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/17.8.754
Jaramillo, A., De la Riva, I., Guayasamin, J., Chaparro, J., Gagliardi-Urrutia, G., Gutiérrez, R., Brcko, I., Vilà, C. & Castroviejo-Fisher, S. (2020) Vastly underestimated species richness of Amazonian salamanders (Plethodontidae: Bolitoglossa) and implications about plethodontid diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 149, 106841.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106841
Jain, S., Brahmbhait, M., Rank, D., Joshi, C. & Solank, J. (2007) Use of cytochrome b Gene variability in detecting meat species by multiplex PCR assay. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 77, 880–881.
Kumar, S., Stecher, G., Li, M., Knyaz, C. & Tamura, K. (2018) MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35, 1547–1549.
https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy096
Mason, A.J., Grazziotin, F.G., Zaher, H., Lemmon, A.R., Moriarty, E. & Parkinson, C.L. (2019) Reticulate evolution in nuclear Middle America causes discordance in the phylogeny of palm-pitvipers (Viperidae: Bothriechis). Journal of Biogeography, 46, 833–844.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13542
Oksanen, J., Guillaume, F., Friendly, M., Kindt, R., Legendre, P, McGlinn, D., Minchin, P.R., O’Hara, R.B., Simpson, G.L., Solymos, P., Stevens, M.H., Szoecs, E. & Wagner, H. (2019) vegan: community ecology package. R package. Version 2.5-6. Available from: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan (accessed 7 April 2021)
Ornelas, J.F., Sosa, V., Soltis, D.E., Daza, J.M., González, C., Soltis P.S., Gutierréz-Rodriguez, C., Espinosa, A., Castoe, T.A., Bell, C. & Ruiz-Sanchez, E. (2013) Comparative phylogeographic analyses illustrate the complex evolutionary history of threatened cloud forests of northern Mesoamerica. PLoS ONE, 8, e56283.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0056283
Palumbi, S. (1996) Nucleic acids II: the polymerase chain reaction. In Hillis, D.M., Moritz, C. & Mable, B.K. (Eds.), Molecular Systematics, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts, pp. 204–247.
Parra-Olea, G., García-París, M. & Wake, D.B. (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, 325–346.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2003.00303.x
Pineda-Schwarz, D., Alonso-Asencio, M., Arrivillaga-Cano, E., Cruz-Font, J.J., Dahinten-Bailey, H., Rosito-Prado, I. & Ariano-Sánchez, D. (2018) Nyctanolis pernix: Geographic distribution notes. Herpetological Review, 49, 499–450.
Pope, I., Bowe, D., Harbor, J., Shao, G., Zanotti, L. & Burniske, G. (2015) Deforestation of montane cloud forest in the Central Highlands of Guatemala: contributing factors and implications for sustainability in Q’eqchi’ communities. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 22, 201–212.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2014.998738
R Core Team (2020) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Available from: https://www.r-project.org/ (accessed 23 March 2021)
Rovito, S.M., Vásquez-Almazán, C.R. & Papenfuss, T.J. (2010) A new species of Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the Sierra de las Minas, Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology, 44, 516–525.
https://doi.org/10.1670/09-205.1
Rovito, S.M., Vásquez-Almazán, C.R., Papenfeuss, T.J., Parra-Olea, G. & Wake, D.B. (2015) Biogeography and evolution of Central American cloud forest salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae: Cryptotriton), with the description of a new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 175, 50–166.
https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12268
Schuster, J.C., Cano, E.B. & Reyes-Castillo, P. (2003) Proculus, giant Latin-American passalids: Revision, phylogeny and biogeography. Acta Zoologica Mexicana, New Series, 90, 281–306.
Serrano, M.J., Grajeda-Estrada, R., Villalobos, A., Álvarez-Ruano, M.R. & Vásquez-García, J.A. (2020) Magnolia poqomchi, a new species of subsection Magnolia (Magnoliaceae) from San Cristóbal Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Phytotaxa, 454 (4), 231–243.
https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.454.4.1
Stamatakis, A. (2014) RAxML Version 8: a tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics, 30, 1312–1313.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033
Stuart, L.C. (1943) Taxonomic and geographic comments on Guatemalan salamanders of the genus Oedipus. Miscellaneous Publications Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 56, 1–34.
Stuart, L.C. (1948) The amphibians and reptiles of Alta Verapaz Guatemala. Miscellaneous Publications Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 69, 1–109.
Stuart, L.C. (1950) A geographic study of the herpetofauna of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Contributions from the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology, University of Michigan, 45, 1–77.
Taylor, E.H. (1944) The genera of plethodont salamanders in Mexico. Part 1. The University of Kansas Scientific Bulletin, 30, 189–232.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.6508
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (2020) Universidad del Valle de Guatemala - Colecciones Biológicas—Anfibios. Available from https://doi.org/10.15468/3du34x (accessed 23 March 2021)
Vásquez-Almazán, C.R., Rovito, S.M., Good, D.A. & Wake, D.B. (2009) A new species of Cryptotriton (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from eastern Guatemala. Copeia, 2009, 313–319.
https://doi.org/10.1643/CH-08-086
Vásquez-Almazán, C.R. & Rovito S.M. (2014) A new species of black Bolitoglossa (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology, 48, 518–524.
https://doi.org/10.1670/13-170
Wake, D.B. & Elias, P. (1983) New genera and a new species of Central American salamanders, with a review of the tropical genera (Amphibia, Caudata, Plethodontidae). Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science, 345, 1–19.
Wake, D.B. & Lynch, J.F. (1976) The distribution, ecology, and evolutionary history of plethodontid salamanders in tropical America. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Bulletin, 25, 1–65.
Wake, D.B. & Lynch, J.F. (1982) Evolutionary relationships among Central American salamanders of the Bolitoglossa franklini group, with a description of a new species from Guatemala. Herpetologica, 38, 257–272.
Wickham, H. (2016) ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis. Springer-Verlag, New York, 213 pp.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24277-4_9
Woodman, N., Matson, J.O., McCarthy, T.J., Eckerlin, R.P., Bulmer, W. & Ordoñez-Garza, N. (2012) Distributional records of shrews (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) from northern Central America with the first record of Sorex from Honduras. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 80, 207–237.