A new species found means countless others are vanishing unseen
A previously unknown salamander species was found in Bojacá, Cundinamarca, during environmental conservation work by EPM and Fundación Natura. Colombia has only documented 7 new Bolitoglossa species in the last century despite being the world's second most biodiverse nation, suggesting many species remain undiscovered.
- New salamander species Bolitoglossa muisca discovered in Bojacá, Cundinamarca
- Found in protected cloud forest area during EPM and Fundación Natura conservation work
- Colombia has documented only 7 new Bolitoglossa species in the last 100 years despite being world's second most biodiverse nation
- Researchers classify the species as endangered due to its small known geographic range
- Discovery made on EPM environmental compensation land, to be transferred to municipalities this year
Scientists discovered a new salamander species, Bolitoglossa muisca, in Cundinamarca's protected cloud forest area. The find highlights Colombia's biodiversity and the urgent need to protect high-altitude ecosystems from deforestation.
In the cloud forests of Bojacá, in Colombia's Cundinamarca department, scientists have identified a salamander species never before documented by science. They named it Bolitoglossa muisca, adding one more creature to humanity's catalog of the living world. The discovery emerged not from a dedicated expedition but from routine fieldwork—researchers surveying land that the utility company EPM had acquired as environmental compensation for building a high-voltage transmission line across the region.
The salamander was found within a protected regional area called the Integrated Management District of Cerro Manjuí and Salto del Tequendama, where EPM and the conservation organization Fundación Natura have been working to restore degraded cloud forests. The partnership between the utility and the foundation created the conditions for the find: boots on the ground, eyes trained to spot the small and easily overlooked, systematic surveys of a landscape most people pass through without noticing what lives there.
The discovery carries weight precisely because it is not unique. Bolitoglossa is the largest and most diverse genus of salamanders in the world, yet across the Americas—from northeastern Mexico to central Bolivia—only about 138 species have been formally identified and cataloged. Colombia claims 24 of them. But here is the telling detail: in the last hundred years, scientists have described only seven new Bolitoglossa species in the country. The rest were documented before 1973. This gap suggests something unsettling. If a new species can be found in a protected area during routine conservation work, how many others are vanishing before anyone knows they exist?
Clara Ligia Solano, director of Fundación Natura, framed the discovery as both achievement and warning. Finding a new species in a country that ranks second globally in biodiversity should send a clear message to society, she said: the need to slow the degradation of high-altitude ecosystems has become urgent. The forests where these salamanders live are disappearing. Deforestation and logging threaten the very habitat that makes their survival possible.
Yeny Rocío López Perilla, one of four researchers who formally described the species, assessed its conservation status with sobering precision. Based on field observations and the small geographic range where the salamander is known to exist, the team believes it should be classified as endangered according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species may already be rare—or it may simply be that no one has looked for it anywhere else.
The land where Bolitoglossa muisca was found—two properties called Peñas Blancas and La Esmeralda—exists because of a bargain struck between development and conservation. EPM built the Nueva Esperanza transmission line to deliver electricity at 230 and 500 kilovolts to roughly two million people across Cundinamarca, Guaviare, Meta, and northern Tolima. As compensation for the environmental impact of that infrastructure, the company purchased these forest parcels to restore and protect them. This year, EPM plans to hand the properties over to local municipalities and communities.
Jorge Andrés Carrillo, EPM's manager, saw in the discovery a validation of the company's environmental obligations. The salamander's presence proved that corporate conservation commitments, when executed seriously, can serve both the company's legal requirements and genuine ecological knowledge. Solano echoed the point: these compensations and environmental obligations create opportunities to understand Colombia's biodiversity and to build lasting conservation action. The discovery of Bolitoglossa muisca is evidence that protection works—that when you set aside land and study it carefully, you find what was always there, waiting to be seen.
Notable Quotes
Finding a new species in a country that ranks second globally in biodiversity should send a clear message: we must urgently slow the degradation of high-altitude ecosystems.— Clara Ligia Solano, director of Fundación Natura
Based on field observations and its small known range, this species should be classified as endangered according to conservation criteria.— Yeny Rocío López Perilla, researcher and one of four scientists who described the species
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does finding one new salamander species matter so much? There are thousands of species we already know about.
Because it tells you something about what we don't know. If a new salamander turns up in a protected area during routine work, how many are disappearing in unprotected forests before anyone documents them?
So this is less about the salamander itself and more about what it reveals?
Exactly. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on Earth, but we've only described seven new Bolitoglossa species in a hundred years. That gap is the real story.
What makes this particular salamander endangered if it was just discovered?
Its range is tiny—we only know it from one small area. That makes it vulnerable. Deforestation could wipe it out before we even understand what it needs to survive.
How did they find it in the first place?
It wasn't a dedicated search. EPM was doing conservation work on land they bought to offset environmental damage from a power line. The salamander was just there, in the cloud forest, waiting for someone to look closely enough.
And now the land gets handed back to the community?
Yes. The company's legal obligation becomes a protected forest. The salamander gets a refuge, at least for now.