Brown Violetear vs Chunky False Brook Salamander

Colibri delphinae compared with Aquiloeurycea cephalica

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Brown Violetear	Chunky False Brook Salamander
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Aves (Birds)	Amphibia (Amphibians)
Order	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)	Caudata (Caudata)
Family	Trochilidae	Plethodontidae
Genus	Colibri	Aquiloeurycea
Species	Colibri delphinae	Aquiloeurycea cephalica

Evolutionary Relationship

Brown Violetear and Chunky False Brook Salamander share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (Chordates)

Conservation Status

Brown Violetear

LC — Least Concern

Chunky False Brook Salamander

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Brown Violetear	Chunky False Brook Salamander
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Brown Violetear

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Chunky False Brook Salamander

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Mexico.

Brown Violetear

The only predominantly brown hummingbird in the violetear genus, brown violetears have brownish-bronze upper parts and a diagnostic violet-blue ear patch. Found across a broad range of humid forest and forest edge from Guatemala south through Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil to Bolivia. Inhabiting elevations from lowland to 2,000 meters, they are found in forest interior, forest edge, and gardens. Despite relatively drab plumage for a hummingbird, the violet ear patch glitters vividly in direct sunlight.

Chunky False Brook Salamander

The Chunky False Brook Salamander (Aquiloeurycea cephalica) is a Least Concern plethodontid salamander endemic to Mexico, found in cloud forest and humid montane habitats in the Sierra Madre Oriental and related mountain ranges. The genus Aquiloeurycea is a recently erected Mexican endemic genus segregated from the broader genus Pseudoeurycea, comprising several small, robustly built (hence 'chunky') salamanders associated with high-elevation forests. Like all plethodontids, A. cephalica is a lungless salamander that breathes entirely through its moist, vascularized skin and the lining of its mouth. It is a direct developer, skipping the aquatic larval stage entirely and laying eggs in terrestrial microhabitats such as rotting logs, leaf litter, and soil. A. cephalica inhabits cool, humid forests of pine-oak and cloud forest zones in northern Mexico, where it forages for small invertebrates in the leaf litter and soil. The IUCN assesses it as Least Concern due to its reasonably wide distribution within its montane range. Deforestation, cattle grazing, and the conversion of cloud forest to agriculture represent ongoing threats to populations throughout its range.