Roberts' False Brook Salamander

Fascinating facts about the Roberts' False Brook Salamander

• A single male measured 49 mm (1.9 in) in snout-vent length, while females ranged from 35–51 mm (1.4–2.0 in), showing a modest size gap that hints at subtle sexual dimorphism in this mountain salamander.
• Researchers identified seven distinct dorsal stripe patterns, with individual stripes averaging 89.15 mm and varying from 38.7 mm to 117.9 mm.
• This salamander lives only between 2,900 and 3,600 m (9,500–11,800 ft) in pine-fir forests on Nevado de Toluca.
• Specimens are routinely found tucked under rocks, logs, and loose bark.
• Although once protected as a national park, the area is now an Área de protección de Flora y Fauna, a weaker status that leaves the salamander vulnerable to tourism, logging, farming and urban growth.

At a glance

About the Roberts' False Brook Salamander

Roberts' false brook salamander, Pseudoeurycea robertsi, is a plethodontid endemic to the high-altitude pine-fir forests of Mexico’s Nevado de Toluca. Females range from 35 to 51 mm in snout-vent length, the single male measured 49 mm, and the tail is laterally compressed and about as long as the body. Its head is broad and flattened with a truncate snout, limbs are well-developed, and the first digit is very short and unwebbed. There is a broad orange stripe on the back and tail, with seven dorsal stripe patterns; each stripe averages about 89 mm and ranges from 38.7 to 117.9 mm. The species lives at elevations of 2,900–3,600 m in pine-fir forests, where specimens have been found under rocks, logs, and loose bark of fallen logs and stumps.

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