Camron Mushroom Tongue Salamander

This species is a medium-sized, robust, brown salamander with fully webbed digits. It usually has a wide light-colored dorsal field with darker brown streaks or wash, although some individuals are uniform brown. The venter is marked with enlarged light spots (Savage 2002). Adults are 76 to 160 mm in total length. Adult males are 47 to 68 mm in standard length, while adult females are 46 to 81 mm in standard length. Tail length is moderate, ranging from 45% to 51% of total length. Eyes are also moderate and slightly protuberant. Adults have 27 to 48 maxillary teeth, and 22 to 40 vomerine teeth. In males, there are 2 to 3 1/2 costal folds between adpressed limbs, while in females, there are 2 1/2 to 4 costal folds. Hands and feet are fully webbed. Webs are thick and digits are not very flattened. No subterminal pads are present. Head width is 14 to 18% of standard length. In adult males, leg length is 22 to 26% of standard length, and in females, leg length is 21 to 24% (Brame and Wake 1963). Color is variable. Flanks and venter are dark chocolate and usually sharply separated from the broad dorsal cream to tan field. Dorsal field is unmarked in juveniles but in adults, it usually has dark brown streaks or washes. Some adults are uniform dark brown or have only a few streaks of light color. Venter is a uniform dark brown in juveniles; in adults the venter is usually marked with large light spots (Savage 2002).A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) (http://darnis.inbio.ac.cr/FMPro?-DB=UBIpub.fp3&-lay=WebAll&-Format=/ubi/detail.html&-Op=bw&id=4336&-Find).

Bolitoglossa lignicolor has a very fragmented distribution in southwestern Costa Rica and adjacent western Panama and also in the Azuero Peninsula, Panama, at elevations from 2 to 884 m (Savage 2002; Koehler et al. 2008; Ibañez et al. 2000). It is found in lowland moist and wet forest and marginally into premontane rainforest habitat (Savage 2002).

This species has direct development. It is nocturnal and arboreal and often shelters in bromeliads by day (or in the axils of other plants), and can also be found in or under terrestrial logs (Savage 2002).

This species is not common. It occurs in at least two protected areas: Parque Nacional Corcovado in Costa Rica and Parque Nacional Coiba in Panama. Habitat loss is a threat, due to increased agriculture and grazing as well as clear-cutting (Stuart et al. 2008).

This taxon is found in the Panamanian dry forests, but not necessarily limited to this ecoregion. The Panamanian dry forests ecoregion occupies approximately 2000 square miles of coastal and near-coastal areas on the Pacific versant of Panama, around portions of the Gulf of Panama. Plant endemism is intermediate, and vertebrate species richness is quite high in the Panamanian dry forests.This key ecoregion is highly threatened from its extensive ongoing exploitation. Beyond the endemism and species richness, the ecoregion is further significant, since it offers a biological corridor from the moist forests to the coastal mangroves.

Plant endemism is intermediate in value within the Panamanian dry forests, likely elevated due to the (a) isolation of this ecoregion from the surrounding and intervening moist forest habitat; (b) arid conditions which likely enhanced speciation and hence species richness; and (c) absence of prehistoric glaciation, which has extinguished many species in more extreme latitudes.

Many of the plants are well adapted to herbivory defense through such morphologies as spiny exteriors and other features. Forest canopies are typically less than twenty meters, with a few of the highest species exceeding that benchmark. Caesalpinia coriaria is a dominant tree in the Azuero Peninsula portion of the dry forests, while Lozania pittieri is a dominant tree in the forests near Panama City. The vegetative palette is well adapted to the dry season, where water is a precious commodity.

Faunal species richness is high in the Panamanian dry forests, as in much of Mesoamerica, with a total of 519 recorded vertebrates alone within the Panamanian dry forests. Special status reptiles in the Panamanian dry forests include the AmericanCrocodile (Crocodylus acutus), the Lower Risk/Near Threatened Brown Wood Turtle (Rhinoclemmys annulata), the Lower Risk/Near Threatened Common Caiman (Caiman crocodilus), the Lower Risk/Near Threatened Common Slider (Trachemys scripta), and the Critically Endangered Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). There are two special status amphibian in the ecoregion: the Critically endangered plantation Glass Frog (Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum) and the Vulnerable Camron mushroom-tongued salamander (Bolitoglossa lignicolor).

Threatened mammals found in the Panamanian dry forests include the: Endangered Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), the Vulnerable Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the Near Threatened Handley’s Tailless Bat (Anoura cultrata), the Vulnerable Lemurine Night Monkey (Aotus lemurinus), the Near Threatened Margay (Leopardus wiedii), the Near Threatened Yellow Isthmus Rat (Isthmomys flavidus), the Near Threatened White-lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari), and the Near Threatened Spectral Bat (Vampyrum spectrum). There are two special status bird species occurring in the ecoregion: the Endangered Great Green Macaw (Ara ambiguus) and the Near Threatened Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi).

The Camron climbing salamander (Bolitoglossa lignicolor), also known as the Camron mushroomtongue salamander or wood colored salamander, is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.