The delicate-skinned salamander was first described by herpetologist Edward Harrison Taylor from the original specimen found in 1940 on a hillside near Rancho Guadalupe, in the north-western Asunción province of Mexico. This area remains the only known area of occupancy for this species. It has been little-studied, although it is thought to feed on small invertebrates that it hunts for under rotting wood. The conservation and restoration of natural habitats for this species is essential in order to prevent its extinction across its very small area of occupancy in the wild and to provide appropriate habitat both for wild populations and any reintroduced, captive-bred individuals in the future.