A new arboreal Pseudoeurycea (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from the Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

We describe a new species of plethodontid salamander of the genus Pseudoeurycea from the Sierra de Zongolica, Veracruz, Mexico. The new species is distinguished from all other species in the genus by morphological and genetic features and by coloration. Based on a mtDNA phylogeny, the new species belongs to the Pseudoeurycea juarezi group and is most closely related to P. ruficauda from the Sierra Mazateca in northern Oaxaca. The newly described salamander increases the number of species of plethodontid salamanders from Veracruz to 43 and those recognized from Mexico to 140.