Bolitoglossa altamazonica

[james67]

these things are so cool, just wondering if there is any particular reason they arent in the hobby (if they are i cant find any info on it).



james

[mantisdragon91]

They are cool, but to the average exporter they are a plain brown salamander that comes mostly from countries that limit exports and doesn't transport well.

[Mitch]

Wow. Do they just have vestigial legs? If you don't believe in evolution there's proof right there.

Disclaimer: Please don't get into an argument about evolution, save it for the dome.

[Ed]

There have been a number of imports of Bolitoglossids over the years and virtually all of them have died within the first six months of import (even those with immediate critical care). On necropsy virtually all of them showed no fat bodies (and most spontaneously dropped thier tails due to lack of reserves (usually within 24 hours of death (occasionally they did survive up to 2 weeks post drop).
In the last 4-5 years those that were tested were all also positive for chytrid.

Ed

[ghettopieninja]

On top of the reasons Ed has given these animals are incredibly cryptic, secerative and arborial, making them quite difficult to locate. Last summer I worked with a Bolitoglossa expert from France and after two full nights of searching we were only able to locate a single individual. This may very well have been a function chytrid driven declines but even in areas that chytrid has not yet been established and populations are assumed to be near normal they remain very difficult to find.

[Logqan]

Might it be possible then that those found easily by traders are easily found because they are already sick? Im not saying they were easy to find but I can't see exporters looking that hard for them and generally when something that cryptic exposes itself its because it isn't doing well.

[Ed]

Originally Posted by Logqan

Might it be possible then that those found easily by traders are easily found because they are already sick? Im not saying they were easy to find but I can't see exporters looking that hard for them and generally when something that cryptic exposes itself its because it isn't doing well.

Or the collectors, middle men and exporters held onto them until they were able to get a sufficient export number together.. which would explain the lack of fat bodies..

Ed

[tjtreefrog]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Wow. Do they just have vestigial legs? If you don't believe in evolution there's proof right there.

Disclaimer: Please don't get into an argument about evolution, save it for the dome.

I'm coming in here a bit late. The legs of Bolitoglossa aren't vestigial, they have webbing between their toes, so as to create an almost mitten-like foot. They are actually arboreal and very good climbers.

Thomas