Long-tailed Minute Salamander (Thorius longicaudus)

The Long-tailed Minute Salamander was described in 2016, it is known from two localities; one near the village of Sola de Vega, and another on near the town of San Vicente Lachixio, both in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The species reached a length of about 7 cm, it was mostly blackish brown and had a distinct, tan-reddish stripe with coppery-brassy highlights and indistinct dark chevrons extending anteriorly from the back of its head to the end of its tail.

The Long-tailed Minute Salamander was still extremely abundant in the 1970s and many individuals were found hiding in all kind of crevices at roadside banks and in stands of pines under or inside logs, under fallen branches, and even under piles of cow dung. 

When the type localities were visited again in 2014, the pine-oak forests had vanished – not a single Long-tailed Minute Salamander was found, the species has gone extinct. [1][2]

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References:

[1] Gabriela Parra-Olea; Sean M. Rovito; Mario García-París; Jessica A. Maisano; David B. Wake; James Hanken: Biology of tiny animals: three new species of minute salamanders (Plethodontidae: Thorius) from Oaxaca, Mexico. PeerJ. 2016; 4: e2694.
[2] Christopher Kemp: Die verlorenen Arten: Große Expeditionen in die Sammlungen naturkundlicher Museen. Verlag Antje Kunstmann GmbH 2019

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edited: 06.09.2019