A New Cryptic Species of Salamander, Genus Oedipina (Caudata: Plethodontidae), from Premontane Elevations in Northern Nicaragua, with Comments on the Systematic Status of the Nicaraguan Paratypes of O. pseudouniformis Brame, 1968

Abstract

We describe a new species of Oedipina (subgenus Oedipina) from premontane elevations of three isolated mountains in northern Nicaragua. The new cryptic species differs in molecular characters from its closest relatives: Oedipina cyclocauda (an Atlantic lowland species with a distributional range from central Panama to extreme southeastern Nicaragua) and Oedipina pseudouniformis. We regard all Nicaraguan specimens previously referred to as O. pseudouniformis to be conspecific with the new species herein described and restrict O. pseudouniformis as a Costa Rican endemic species. We also record the fourth known locality (and southernmost) of the Nicaraguan endemic O. nica and discuss additional species of Oedipina that are likely to be found in Nicaragua as field research continues in the country.