GENUS: Pseudoeurycea
SPECIES: Pseudoeurycea orchimelas
COMMON NAME: San Martin Worm Salamander
IUCN RED LIST STATUS: Endangered
INTERNATIONAL STATUS:
NATIONAL STATUS:
REGIONAL STATUS:
DESCRIPTION: (Enough information to identify an unknown amphibian that you have)
Pseudoeurycea orchimelas has a rounded snout, small nares, and a postorbital groove. It has two rows of vomerine teeth and enlarged premaxillary teeth. Its head is wider than its body and it does not have parotoid glands present. It has 13 costal grooves with short and slender limbs, four digits on each manus, and no constriction in the tail. (Brodie, Mendelson & Campbell, 2002)
DIAGNOSIS: (How this species is differentiated …show more content…
lineolus and L. orchhileucos. It can be differentiated from the two species by its small head size and its black testes and vasa deferentia. (Brodie, Mendelson & Campbell, 2002)
COLORATION: (In life and/or in preservative)
In preservative, the species is dark drown on dorsal surfaces with gray reticulation and cream-colored iridiophores on the limbs, tail, and lateral and ventral surfaces. Testes and vasa deferentia are black. (Brodie, Mendelson & Campbell, 2002)
VARIATION:
The mental gland is present, but might not be visible in all adult males. Females might be larger than males and have more maxillary-premaxillary teeth. (Brodie, Mendelson & Campbell, 2002)
DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT: (Including elevational range)
Pseudoeurycea orchimelas can be found at elevations from 100-1300 m in the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz,Mexico. It lives in leaf litter in lowland rain forest habitat and is usually found underneath cover. The occurrence range is 1735 km2 and the area in which it occupies spans 1,255 km2. (Brodie, Mendelson & Campbell, 2002)
LIFE HISTORY, ABUNDANCE, ACTIVITY, and SPECIAL BEHAVIORS: (Including calls, reproductive behavior, direct development, predators/prey,