The Caecilians are an order (Gymnophiona or Apoda) of amphibians which resemble earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground which makes them the least explored order of amphibians, and widely unknown.

Anatomy

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Caecilians have degenerate feet, making the smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species with lengths up to 1.5 m resemble snakes. The tail is short and the cloaca is near the end of the body. Their skin is smooth and usually dark-matte, but some species have colorful skins. Inside the skin are calcite scales, which suggests that they are related to the fossil Stegocephalia. However the scales are now believed to be a secondary development, and not directly inherited from Stegocephalia. Due to their underground life the eyes are small and covered by skin for protection, which have led to the misconception that they are blind. However due to the skin cover their visual sense is limited to simple dark-light perception. All Caecilians share two tentacles at their head, which are probably used for a second olfactory capability in addition to the normal sense of smell based in the nose.

Except for one lungless species - Atretochoana eiselti, only known from a single specimen collected somewhere in South America - all Caecilians have lungs, but also use the skin or the mouth for oxygen absorption. Often the left lung is much smaller than the right one, an adaptation to body shape that is also found in snakes.

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@weirdimals Eeee! I love caecilians. I found one outside my house once. :D
Syndarr (Alice Grunstra) Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:30:34 -0000
@weirdimals Eeee! I love caecilians. I found one outside my house once. :D

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