Pseudoeurycea cephalica rubrimembris
Adult, 4,800′, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Adult, 4,800′, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Adult, 4,800′, Tamaulipas, Mexico
RED-LEGGED FALSE-BROOK SALAMANDER
Pseudoeurycea cephalica - cope 1865
Pseudoeurycea cephalica rubrimembris - Taylor & Smith 1945
IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
This salamander is known from the states of Hidalgo (northern half), Queretaro, San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas, Mexico. In Tamaulipas it is known from the Sierra de Guadalupe and Sierra de Tamaulipas with certainty; probably also occurs north to the vicinity of El Chihue, west of Ciudad Victoria near the Nuevo Leon border. In San Luis Potosi it occurs at the Queretaro border near Cerro Conejo, west of Xilitla and probably just east of Ciudad del Maiz. It is likely that rubrimembris is also found in the Sierra Negra Biosphere Preserve just inside the state of Guanajuato, as well.
HABITAT:
Cloud Forest, 4,800′, Tamaulipas, Mexico
NATURAL HISTORY:
TAXONOMY:
In the Pseudoeurycea cephalica group. Rubrimembris probably deserves species status, as it is quite distinct morphologically and displays an allopatric distribution from other cephalica ssp.
TYPE:
Described as Bolitoglossa cephalica rubrimembris by Taylor and Smith (1945). Holotype: USNM 110661. Type locality: “6 km. south of Santa Anita, Hidalgo, elevation about 4,500 feet, Mexico”.
PERSONAL NOTES:
In August, 2004 my field companion and I found these salamanders in the Rancho del Cielo Biosphere Preserve, Sierra de Guatemala, Tamaulipas. All were found beneath roadside rock or small woody debris, and seemed to occur in pockets (rarely was a single salamander found). Oddly, salamanders were only found along a single stretch of road in the entire area we surveyed. Other amphibians found in this vicinity were Pseudoeurycea scandens, Syrrhophus cystignathoides and Eleutherodactylus decoratus purpurus. Pseudoeurycea bellii bellii and two species of Chiropterotriton also occur in sympatry with this species in the Sierra de Guatemala.
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