Thorius smithi
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Thorius smithi faces severe threats from habitat destruction due to agricultural expansion and logging activities in its restricted montane forest range. The species' extremely limited distribution makes it particularly vulnerable to local environmental changes, with deforestation for coffee plantations and cattle ranching fragmenting its cloud forest habitat. Climate change poses an additional threat by altering the moisture regimes essential for this salamander's survival in high-elevation environments.
Habitat
Thorius smithi inhabits cloud forests and pine-oak forests at elevations between 2,400-3,100 meters in the mountains of central Mexico. The species requires cool, humid microhabitats with abundant leaf litter and moss cover, typically found in undisturbed montane forest ecosystems.
