Oedipina grandis Brame & Duellman 1970

Diagnosis: Can be distinguished from other species of Oedipina by the combination of its body size (one of the largest in the genus, coloration (having a silver to cream narrow dorsolateral stripe that marks the boundary between the brown dorsum and black venter, and the upper side of the tail being black), 19-20 costal grooves, 38-60 maxillary teeth, relatively narrow head with a short and rounded snout, and short limbs with small feet (Savage 2002).Description: Oedipina grandis is one of the largest salamanders in the genus Oedipina. Adults range from 154 - 211 mm in total length. Adult males are 55 - 68 mm in standard length and adult females are 61 - 72 mm in standard length. The tail is elongated and comprises 61 - 69% of its total length. The head is fairly narrow, with a short and rounded snout. Eyes are small. This species has 19 - 20 costal grooves. Maxillary teeth number 38 - 60 and vomerine teeth number 16 - 23. O. grandis has short limbs and small feet, and hands and feet are syndactylous (Savage 2002).Coloration: The dorsum is brown and the venter is black, with a narrow silver to cream dorsolateral stripe demarcating the boundary between dorsum and venter. The tail is black. Iris is dark brown (Savage 2002). Similar species: Oedipina grandis can be distinguished from Oedipina poelzi by its larger adult body size (55-72 mm standard length for O. grandis, vs. 41 - 64 mm standard length for O. poelzi). narrower head and feet, and shorter legs (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=4360&-Find).First described by Brame and Duellman (1970).

Occurs in extreme southern Costa Rica (Cordillera de Talamanca) and in adjacent western Panama (Savage 2002). It is found in lower montane rainforest, at elevations between 1,810-1,950 m asl (Savage 2002). It is not found in degraded habitats (Stuart et al. 2008).

O. grandis is fossorial (Stuart et al. 2008). It is generally found beneath decaying logs or within leaf litter surrounding tree buttresses (Savage 2002. It breeds by direct development (Stuart et al. 2008). The smallest juvenile is around 32.5 mm in standard length (Savage 2002).

Habitat losses as a result of expanding smallholder farming and logging threaten this species, and it does not occur in degraded habitat. Though O. grandis was previously reported to be common, it has undergone significant decline across its range. It occurs in at least one protected area, Parque Internacional La Amistad, on the border of Costa Rica and Panama (Stuart et al. 2008). A dead gravid female was found with chytrid fungal infection at Las Tablas, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica in 1991 (Lips et al. 1998).

Oedipina grandis 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 montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.