Pine-dwelling Minute Salamander (Thorius pinicola)

The Pine-dwelling Minute Salamander was described in 2016, it was found at several localities north of the village of San Miguel Suchixtepec in the Sierra Madre del Sur in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The terrestrial species inhabited montane pine-oak forests, where it was found almost always between the bark and wood of upright ree stumps.

The Pine-dwelling Minute Salamander reached a length of 5 cm, it was mainly blackish, its flanks were black suffused with fine white speckling, the back was decorated with a broad brassy copper dorsal band etched with thin black lines. 

The species was last seen in 2001 and may now already be 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