Natural history of the critically endangered salamander Pseudoeurycea robertsi

Mexico is one of the most diverse countries that is losing a large amount of forest due to land use change, these data put Mexico in fourth place for global deforestation rate, therefore, Mexico occupies the first place in number of endangered species in the world with 665 endangered species. It is important to study amphibians because they are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth and their populations are rapidly declining worldwide due primarily to the loss and degradation of their natural habitats. Pseudoeurycea robertsi is a micro-endemic and critically endangered Plethodontid salamander from the Nevado de Toluca Volcano and to date almost nothing is known about its natural history therefore, we survey fourteen sites of the Nevado de Toluca Volcano a mountain that is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, Mexico. We carry out the most exhaustive sampling scheme of this species throughout the Nevado de Toluca Volcano to know the number of individuals and the microhabitat features associated with the presence of P. robertsi. Likewise, we carry out a morphometric study and coloration measurements of P. robertsi individuals and we determine the potential distribution of P. robertsi and the other 3 species of pletodontids present in the NTV using ecological niche modeling and to determine the most important habitat features associated with the presence of salamander species, as well as to know the niche overlap among salamander species. This information will help raise conservation strategies for this micro-endemic and critically endangered salamander.