Bolitoglossa spongai

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	CAUDATA	PLETHODONTIDAE

Scientific Name:	Bolitoglossa spongai
Species Authority:	Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos, 1999

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Endangered B1ab(iii) ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Enrique La Marca, Juan Elías García-Pérez, Oswaldo Fuentes-Ramos
Reviewer/s:	Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox and Bruce Young)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Listed as Endangered because its Extent of Occurrence is less than 5,000 km2, all individuals are in fewer than five locations, and there is continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat in Venezuela.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is apparently restricted to cloud forests in the vicinity of La Carbonera, Campo Elías Municipality, in Mérida State, Venezuela. In the original description, Barrio-Amorós and Fuentes-Ramos (1999) indicate that it is also present in Quebrada La Mucuy (in Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada), but no museum numbers are given, and the only specimen coming from this place, listed by them, is a Bolitoglossa orestes. It has been recorded from 2,000-2,800m asl.
Countries:	Native: Venezuela
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Recent fieldwork indicates that, although secretive, it is not rare in the La Carbonera region.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It is a terrestrial inhabitant of mossy terrain in cloud forests, and even in drier sub-páramo shrubland. It has been collected in rotting tree trunks and beneath logs and stones, but never in bromeliads or epiphytes on trees. It breeds by direct development.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	The major threat is habitat loss due to smallholder agricultural activities. The recent introduction of Rana catesbeiana in the vicinity of the type locality may pose a problem in the near future.

Major Threat(s):

The major threat is habitat loss due to smallholder agricultural activities. The recent introduction of Rana catesbeiana in the vicinity of the type locality may pose a problem in the near future.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	It has not been recorded from any protected areas (except if its presence is confirmed in Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada), but it occurs very close to Parque Nacional Sierra la Culata. Universidad de los Andes has a private reserve where this species was collected. There is a need for close population monitoring of this species.

Conservation Actions:

It has not been recorded from any protected areas (except if its presence is confirmed in Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada), but it occurs very close to Parque Nacional Sierra la Culata. Universidad de los Andes has a private reserve where this species was collected. There is a need for close population monitoring of this species.

Citation:	Enrique La Marca, Juan Elías García-Pérez, Oswaldo Fuentes-Ramos 2004. Bolitoglossa spongai. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 May 2013.
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