DEFENSIVE BEHAVIOR AND RANGE EXPANSION OF BERLIN’S FLAT-HEADED SALAMANDER Oedipina berlini KUBICKI 2016 (CAUDATA: PLETHODONTIDAE)

Claudia Gómez-Campos; Génesis Rodríguez-Naranjo; Alexandra Salas Ramirez; Jefrie Hernández-Sánchez; Juan Gabriel Abarca Alvarado

doi:10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.2.928

Authors

Claudia Gómez-Campos Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Génesis Rodríguez-Naranjo Tlaloc Conservation, Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation, San José, Costa Rica.
Alexandra Salas Ramirez Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Jefrie Hernández-Sánchez Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Juan Gabriel Abarca Alvarado Unidad de Microbiología Médico Veterinaria, Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal (SENASA), Heredia, Costa Rica.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22201/fc.25942158e.2024.2.928

Keywords:

Braulio Carrillo National Park, conservation, distribution, natural history, lungless salamanders

Abstract

Oedipina berlini is a terrestrial salamander endemic to the Caribbean tropical forests of Costa Rica. Current knowledge of its natural history is deficient due to scarce observations since its discovery. Herein, we describe an antipredator behavior, which consists of a jump powered only by its tail. This method of defense against predators shows the natural history of tropical salamanders is complex and understudied. Additionally, we report the presence of this species in the Braulio Carrillo National Park, which corresponds to the fifth locality for O. berlini and the northernmost point of its known distribution.

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