Scolecomorphidae

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Scolecomorphidae
Scolecomorphus kirkii (cropped).jpg
Scolecomorphus kirkii
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Gymnophiona
Clade: Apoda
Family: Scolecomorphidae
Taylor, 1969
Genera

Crotaphatrema
Scolecomorphus

The Scolecomorphidae are the family of caecilians,[1] also known as tropical caecilians, buried-eyed caecilians,[1][2] or African caecilians.[3] They are found in Cameroon in West Africa, and Malawi and Tanzania in East Africa.[1] Caecilians are legless amphibians which superficially resemble worms or snakes.

Scolecomorphids have only vestigial eyes, which are attached to the base of a pair of tentacles underneath the snout. Unlike other caecilians, they have only primary annuli; these are grooves running incompletely around the body, giving the animal a segmented appearance. All other caecilians have a complex pattern of grooves, with secondary or tertiary annuli present. Also uniquely amongst tetrapods, the scolecomorphids lack a stapes bone in the middle ear.[4]

At least some species of scolecomorphids give birth to live young, retaining the eggs inside the females' bodies until they hatch into fully formed offspring, without the presence of a free-living larval stage.[4]

Taxonomy[]

Just six species of scolecomorphids are known, grouped into two genera, as follows:[1][2]

Family Scolecomorphidae

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Frost, Darrel R. (2019). "Scolecomorphidae Taylor, 1969". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Scolecomorphidae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Scolecomorphidae Taylor, 1969". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  4. ^ a b Nussbaum, Ronald A. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-12-178560-4.
  • Nussbaum, Ronald A. and Mark Wilkinson (1989). "On the Classification and Phylogeny of Caecilians." Herpetological Monographs, (3), 1-42
  • San Mauro, Diego; David J. Gower; Oommen V. Oommen; Mark Wilkinson; Rafael Zardoya (November 2004). "Phylogeny of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear RAG1". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 33 (2): 413–427. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.05.014. PMID 15336675.
  • San Mauro, Diego; Miguel Vences; Marina Alcobendas; Rafael Zardoya; Axel Meyer (May 2005). "Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea" (PDF). American Naturalist. 165 (5): 590–599. doi:10.1086/429523. PMID 15795855.
  • San Mauro, Diego; David J. Gower; Tim Massingham; Mark Wilkinson; Rafael Zardoya; James A. Cotton (August 2009). "Experimental design in caecilian systematics: phylogenetic information of mitochondrial genomes and nuclear rag1". Systematic Biology. 58 (4): 425–438. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.577.2856. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syp043. PMID 20525595.
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