The Golden Salamander was described in 1994, it was restricted to a small area around the peak of Cerro Pelón on the northern slopes of the Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.

The ground-dwelling species inhabited pine-oak forests, where it was found among leaf-litter, like all of its congeners it was nocturnal and hid itself during daytime under rocks and fallen branches or logs.

The Golden Salamander reached lengths of about 5,5 cm, it was mainly blackish and had a distinct golden dorsal stripe spanning from its head to the end of its tail.

The species appears to have gone extinct sometime prior to 2008, when field surveys did not manage to finde even a single individual.