Description

Diagnosis: Can be distinguished from other species of Oedipina by the combination of its body size (one of the largest in the genus, coloration (having a silver to cream narrow dorsolateral stripe that marks the boundary between the brown dorsum and black venter, and the upper side of the tail being black), 19-20 costal grooves, 38-60 maxillary teeth, relatively narrow head with a short and rounded snout, and short limbs with small feet (Savage 2002).

Description: Oedipina grandis is one of the largest salamanders in the genus Oedipina. Adults range from 154 - 211 mm in total length. Adult males are 55 - 68 mm in standard length and adult females are 61 - 72 mm in standard length. The tail is elongated and comprises 61 - 69% of its total length. The head is fairly narrow, with a short and rounded snout. Eyes are small. This species has 19 - 20 costal grooves. Maxillary teeth number 38 - 60 and vomerine teeth number 16 - 23. O. grandis has short limbs and small feet, and hands and feet are syndactylous (Savage 2002).

Coloration: The dorsum is brown and the venter is black, with a narrow silver to cream dorsolateral stripe demarcating the boundary between dorsum and venter. The tail is black. Iris is dark brown (Savage 2002).

Similar species: Oedipina grandis can be distinguished from Oedipina poelzi by its larger adult body size (55-72 mm standard length for O. grandis, vs. 41 - 64 mm standard length for O. poelzi). narrower head and feet, and shorter legs (Savage 2002).

Distribution and Habitat

Country distribution from AmphibiaWeb's database: Costa Rica, Panama

	View distribution map in BerkeleyMapper.
	View Bd and Bsal data (1 records).

Occurs in extreme southern Costa Rica (Cordillera de Talamanca) and in adjacent western Panama (Savage 2002). It is found in lower montane rainforest, at elevations between 1,810-1,950 m asl (Savage 2002). It is not found in degraded habitats (Stuart et al. 2008).

Life History, Abundance, Activity, and Special Behaviors
O. grandis is fossorial (Stuart et al. 2008). It is generally found beneath decaying logs or within leaf litter surrounding tree buttresses (Savage 2002. It breeds by direct development (Stuart et al. 2008). The smallest juvenile is around 32.5 mm in standard length (Savage 2002).

Trends and Threats
Habitat losses as a result of expanding smallholder farming and logging threaten this species, and it does not occur in degraded habitat. Though O. grandis was previously reported to be common, it has undergone significant decline across its range. It occurs in at least one protected area, Parque Internacional La Amistad, on the border of Costa Rica and Panama (Stuart et al. 2008).

A dead gravid female was found with chytrid fungal infection at Las Tablas, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica in 1991 (Lips et al. 1998).

Possible reasons for amphibian decline

General habitat alteration and loss
Habitat modification from deforestation, or logging related activities
Intensified agriculture or grazing

Comments

A Spanish-language species account can be found at the website of Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio).

First described by Brame and Duellman (1970).

References

Brame, A. H., Jr., and Duellman, W. E. (1970). ''A new salamander (genus Oedipina) of the uniformis group from western Panama.'' Contributions in Science. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 201, 1-8.

Lips, K. R. (1998). "Decline of a tropical montane amphibian fauna." Conservation Biology, 12(1), 106-117.

Savage, J. M. (2002). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica:a herpetofauna between two continents, between two seas. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA and London.

Stuart, S., Hoffmann, M., Chanson, J., Cox, N., Berridge, R., Ramani, P., Young, B. (eds) (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, IUCN, and Conservation International, Barcelona, Spain; Gland, Switzerland; and Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Species Account Citation: AmphibiaWeb 2012 Oedipina grandis <https://amphibiaweb.org/species/4108> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed Apr 17, 2024.

Citation: AmphibiaWeb. 2024. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 17 Apr 2024.

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