A New Species of Microtegu Lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Cercosaurinae) from Amazonian Ecuador

Image and text by William W. Lamar

Members of the genus Bolitoglossa form a speciose group of Neotropical salamanders that radiated north from the Andes Mountains, but some can be found in the Orinoco and Amazon basins. Bolitoglossa are lowland, nocturnal, semi-arboreal caudate amphibians. Bolitoglossa altamazonica certainly represents a complex, but for now the name is applied to most specimens found in the upper Amazon region. Photograph taken at night while the individual perched on a rainforest shrub near the village of Yanamono, Loreto Department, Peru.