Molecular taxonomic reassessment of the Cloud Forest's Bolitoglossa salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae) from Cordillera de Merida (Merida state, Venezuela)

Salamanders found at different localities nearby Merida city, Venezuela, are thus far reported as Bolitoglossa orestes or B. spongai. However, morphological ambiguities among individuals from several populations of both putative species, besides their reported disparate geographical distributions, prompted us to clarify the specific identity of these bolitoglossines through the sequence analysis of their corresponding 16S rRNA genes. Seventeen specimens belonging to the vertebrates collection of Universidad de Los Andes (CVULA), collected at separated cloud forests in Sierra La Culata (San Eusebio, Macho Capaz and San Javier del Valle) and Sierra Nevada de Merida (La Mucuy), were used to extract DNA upon tissue digestion. Sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene supports a biogeographical scenario where, so far, there is only one salamander species for each sierra: B. orestes, which is widely distributed in Sierra La Culata, and a so far undescribed species of a Venezuelan bolitoglossine apparently restricted to Sierra Nevada de Merida. Based on our molecular results and an examination of morphological evidence, B. spongai should be considered a synonym of B. orestes.