The presence of this species at Chinajá lends support to the idea that
the specimen from the Río de la Pasión listed by Brocchi (1882:116)
also is _Bolitoglossa dofleini_. Furthermore, the confirmed presence of
this species in the lowlands of El Petén suggests that there may be
genetic connection between _B. dofleini_ in the Alta Verapaz and _B.
yucatana_ in the Yucatán Peninsula. _Bolitoglossa yucatana_ differs from
_B. dofleini_ in having five intercostal spaces between adpressed toes
and in having a different color pattern. Both are robust species having
no close relationships to other species of _Bolitoglossa_ in northern
Central America.
The specimen from Chinajá was found in water in the axil of a large
elephant-ear plant (_Xanthosoma_) by day in March. Its stomach contained
fragments of beetles and a large roach. The natives did not know
salamanders and had no name for them.
=Bolitoglossa moreleti mulleri= (Brocchi)
Chinajá, 2; Río San Román, 1.
One specimen is a female having a snout-vent length of 80 mm., a tail
length of 82 mm., and a total length of 162 mm. It contains 63 large
eggs, the largest of which has a diameter of about three millimeters.
This specimen has 13 costal grooves, four intercostal spaces between
adpressed toes, and 12-13 vomerine teeth. A juvenile having a snout-vent
length of 39 mm. and a tail length of 33 mm. has 12 costal grooves,
three intercostal spaces between adpressed toes, and 8-8 vomerine teeth.
In life these salamanders were uniformly dull brownish black above with
a dull creamy yellow irregular dorsal stripe beginning on the occiput
and continuing onto the tail. There are no yellow or orange streaks or
flecks on the head or limbs. The specimen from the Río San Román was
taken from the stomach of a _Pliocercus euryzonus aequalis_ and has not
been studied in detail, because of its poor condition.
The present specimens show no tendency for the development of a broad
irregular dorsal band that encloses black spots or forms irregular
dorsolateral stripes, as is characteristic of _B. moreleti mexicanus_, a
subspecies that has been reported from La Libertad (Stuart, 1935:35) and
Piedras Negras (Taylor and Smith, 1945:545) in El Petén, and from
Xunantunich, British Honduras (Neill and Allen, 1959:20).
Schmidt (1936:151) and Stuart (1943:13) found _B. moreleti mulleri_ in
bromeliads at Finca Samac, Alta Verapaz. Taylor and Smith's (1945:545)
and Neill and Allen's (1959:20) specimens of _B. moreleti mexicanus_
were obtained from bromeliads, but Neill and Allen (_loc. cit._) stated
that the natives in British Honduras said that they had found
salamanders beneath rubbish on the forest floor. My specimens were
obtained from beneath logs on the forest floor in the rainy season.
Possibly in drier environments the species characteristically inhabits
bromeliads, at least in the dry season.
=Bufo marinus= (Linnaeus)
Chinajá, 3; 10 km. NNW of Chinajá, 1; 11 km. NNW of Chinajá,
1.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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