Lake Lerma Salamander
Encyclopedia
The Lake Lerma Salamander (Ambystoma lermaense) is an extremely rare neotenic
Mole salamander
species.
from a holotype
found east of Toluca
in 1940. Its habitat is the Lerma River
and Lake Lerma in the Toluca Valley in the central highland of Mexico
in an altitude of 2800 - 3000 m asl
. Drainage of the marshes destroyed almost the whole Lake Lerma with the consequence that this species became locally extinct in that area. Pollution and the building of dams at the Lerma River in the Almoloya region along the villages Tenango, Santa Maria, Jajalpa and San Pedro as well as domestic consumption lead also to a castastrophic decline of the populations. This species is listed in Appendix II CITES and as Critically endangered
in the IUCN redlist due to the lack of information according its occurrence. Despite it was not seen in recent years there is still hope to rediscover this species in other areas of the Toluca Valley.
Neoteny
Neoteny , also called juvenilization , is one of the two ways by which paedomorphism can arise. Paedomorphism is the retention by adults of traits previously seen only in juveniles, and is a subject studied in the field of developmental biology. In neoteny, the physiological development of an...
Mole salamander
Mole salamander
The mole salamanders are a group of salamanders endemic to North America, the only genus in the family Ambystomatidae...
species.
Description
The Lake Lerma Salamander was first described by herpetologist Edward Harrison TaylorEdward Harrison Taylor
Edward Harrison Taylor was an American herpetologist from Kansas.He was born in Maysville, Missouri and studied at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, graduating with a B.A. in 1912. Subsequently, he went to the Philippines, where at first he held a teacher's post in a village in central...
from a holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
found east of Toluca
Toluca
Toluca, formally known as Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the...
in 1940. Its habitat is the Lerma River
Lerma River
The Lerma Santiago River is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, Jalisco...
and Lake Lerma in the Toluca Valley in the central highland of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in an altitude of 2800 - 3000 m asl
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
. Drainage of the marshes destroyed almost the whole Lake Lerma with the consequence that this species became locally extinct in that area. Pollution and the building of dams at the Lerma River in the Almoloya region along the villages Tenango, Santa Maria, Jajalpa and San Pedro as well as domestic consumption lead also to a castastrophic decline of the populations. This species is listed in Appendix II CITES and as Critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
in the IUCN redlist due to the lack of information according its occurrence. Despite it was not seen in recent years there is still hope to rediscover this species in other areas of the Toluca Valley.