It is found in the north-central Chiapas, Mexico, and the adjacent Guatemalan Sierra de los Cuchumatanes.

[3] This species is named after Norman Hartweg, American herpetologist[4] and "an able scientist who spent many years studying Chiapan amphibians and reptiles and who stimulated and guided many investigations of the biology of tropical organisms.

The body is robust and the snout is relatively short and truncate.

[2] Its natural habitats are coniferous and oak forests, often in association with limestone outcrops, at elevations of 1,200–2,800 m (3,900–9,200 ft) above sea level.

It lives in crevices, sometimes found under flakes of rock or under the bark of logs, but even arboreal bromeliads.