Notes on Amphibians of the Los Tuxtlas Range of Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

Recent collecting activity by naturalists in the small range of coastal mountains in southern Veracruz, known as the Los Tuxtlas, is verifying the suspicion that the region is of considerable zoogeographic significance, characterized by a high degree of endemism. This report, the first of two, deals with the amphibians secured during a preliminary sampling of the area,. principally on Volcin San Martin, the highest point in the northwestern half of the Tuxtlas Range. A later paper will list the reptiles and will contain a description of the region and a summary of collecting localities, as well as acknowledgments. The first field party, consisting of John Werler, Jack Reid, and Bob Roberts, was in the field from February 4 to 19, 1953. A second collecting expedition, formed by the same group and a fourth member, Donald M. Darling, spent 22 days in Mexico, from January 17 to February 7, 1954. On the second trip, collecting activity in the Los Tuxtlas was limited to 10 days, while excursions to Chiapas and to the mountain crest just west of Acultzingo, Veracruz, consumed much of the remaining time.