When people think about amphibians in Panama, they usually picture brilliantly colored poison dart frogs, enormous cane toads or the famous golden frog. But hidden among the moss, bromeliads, fallen leaves and wet rocks of Panama's forests is another fascinating group of amphibians: salamanders.
Panama is home to several species of lungless salamanders in the family Plethodontidae. They are remarkably different from the salamanders many people imagine. Most are small, secretive and completely terrestrial, spending their lives crawling through the humid vegetation of tropical forests. They don't have lungs. Instead, they breathe through their skin and the lining of their mouths, which means they need a consistently moist environment to survive.
The Bolitoglossa salamanders
The most important salamander genus in Panama is Bolitoglossa, commonly called web foot salamanders. These small amphibians are particularly fascinating because many have adaptations for climbing. Their toes can be broadly webbed, allowing them to cling to wet leaves, moss and vegetation in the rainforest canopy.
One of the species found in Panama is the spotted web foot salamander, Bolitoglossa colonnea. It occurs in humid forests of Central America, including Panama, and can be found in environments ranging from lowland rainforest to higher elevations. Like many tropical salamanders, it is an animal that rewards patience rather than speed. You are unlikely to see one racing across a trail. Instead, you may discover one tucked beneath a piece of damp bark or hiding among moss and leaf litter.
Another fascinating species is Bolitoglossa compacta, the compact salamander. It is associated with humid forest environments and has been recorded in Panama's mountainous regions. These highland forests provide exactly what salamanders need: shade, cool temperatures, abundant moisture and an enormous supply of tiny invertebrates to eat.
And then there is Bolitoglossa robusta, appropriately known as the robust salamander. It is one of the larger members of the genus and occurs in Central America, including Panama. Like its relatives, it is primarily nocturnal and secretive.
Panama's cloud forests are salamander country
If you want to understand why Panama can support salamanders, spend some time in the country's cloud forests.
Places such as Boquete, Volcán, Santa Fe and other high elevation areas have cool, wet environments covered in mosses, ferns, orchids and bromeliads. Water hangs in the vegetation, clouds constantly move through the mountains and the forest floor can remain damp for long periods.
This is almost perfect salamander habitat.
At night, the forest becomes even more interesting. Salamanders emerge from hiding places and begin searching for tiny prey. A flashlight moving slowly across moss covered logs or wet vegetation can reveal creatures that would be almost impossible to find during the day.
They eat small animals such as insects, spiders and other tiny invertebrates. Rather than chasing prey over long distances, they often rely on stealth, slowly moving through their environment until an opportunity appears.
They don't need water like frogs do
One of the most interesting things about Panama's salamanders is their reproductive strategy.
Many people assume that all amphibians have to return to ponds or streams to reproduce. That's not necessarily true for these salamanders. Many plethodontid salamanders have direct development, meaning that young salamanders emerge from eggs looking like miniature versions of adults rather than passing through a free swimming tadpole stage.
That is an enormous adaptation for life in the forest.
A salamander can live high in a humid mountain forest without needing a permanent pond nearby. The eggs can be laid in protected moist locations, and the young develop inside them until they emerge as tiny salamanders.
In other words, the forest itself becomes their nursery.
A salamander that breathes through its skin
Perhaps the strangest thing about Panama's lungless salamanders is something they don't have.
They don't have lungs.
Members of the Plethodontidae family have evolved to breathe primarily through their skin and tissues inside the mouth. This works because oxygen can diffuse across moist surfaces.
But there is a catch.
Their skin must stay moist.
This explains why salamanders are so closely associated with Panama's humid forests. A dry environment can be dangerous for an animal whose respiratory system depends on moisture. It also explains why salamanders are often more active after rain and why nighttime, when humidity is high, can be an excellent time to look for them.
The hidden wildlife of Panama
Salamanders don't have the celebrity status of Panama's monkeys, sloths or poison dart frogs. They don't make spectacular calls, they aren't brightly colored in the way many tropical frogs are and they rarely attract crowds of tourists.
But that makes finding one feel like discovering a secret.
Imagine walking through a cloud forest after sunset. The leaves are wet, the trees are covered in moss and every surface seems alive. You shine your flashlight onto a fallen branch and suddenly notice a tiny amphibian sitting motionless against the bark.
It may only be a few centimeters long.
But that little animal is perfectly adapted to the environment around it. It breathes through its skin, hunts tiny creatures in the darkness and may spend its entire life within a relatively small patch of humid forest.
Why salamanders matter
Salamanders are also important indicators of environmental conditions. Because their skin is so permeable and they depend heavily on moisture, they can be particularly sensitive to changes in their habitat.
Deforestation, changes in humidity, pollution, rising temperatures and disease can all affect amphibian populations. Panama has experienced serious amphibian declines in the past, most famously involving the deadly fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which devastated many amphibian populations across Central America.
The disappearance of an obscure little salamander might not attract the same attention as the disappearance of a jaguar, but it can be an important warning about changes taking place within the forest ecosystem.
Go looking after dark
For anyone interested in wildlife, salamanders are a great reason to explore Panama's forests at night. A nighttime walk through a humid cloud forest can reveal an entirely different collection of animals from those encountered during the day.
Move slowly. Look underneath leaves and fallen branches without disturbing the habitat, inspect moss covered logs and scan vegetation with a flashlight. After rain is often particularly promising.
And don't expect something huge.
Panama's salamanders are usually tiny, secretive and easy to overlook.
That's precisely what makes them so fascinating.
While tourists are searching the canopy for monkeys and scanning the trees for toucans, an entirely different world is unfolding at ground level. Hidden among the moss and wet leaves are tiny lungless amphibians that have evolved one of the strangest breathing systems in the animal kingdom.
In a country as biologically rich as Panama, even the smallest creatures can have extraordinary stories. And if you slow down enough to look closely, you might discover that the cloud forest floor is hiding one of Panama's most mysterious residents: a salamander quietly breathing through its skin.