The Scolecomorphidae (from Greek: σκώλεκώς skólekós, 'wormlike' and Greek: μορφή morphḗ, 'form') are a 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.
| Scolecomorphidae | |
|---|---|
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| Scolecomorphus kirkii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Gymnophiona |
| Clade: | Apoda |
| Family: | Scolecomorphidae Taylor, 1969 |
| Genera | |
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
editJust six species of scolecomorphids are known, grouped into two genera, as follows:[1][2]
Family Scolecomorphidae
- Genus Crotaphatrema Nussbaum, 1985
- Crotaphatrema bornmuelleri (Werner, 1899), Bornmuller's caecilian, Cameroon
- Crotaphatrema lamottei (Nussbaum, 1981), Mont Oku caecilian, Cameroon
- Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis Lawson, 2000, Cameroon
- Genus Scolecomorphus Boulenger, 1883
- Scolecomorphus kirkii Boulenger, 1883, Kirk's caecilian or Lake Tanganyika caecilian, East Africa
- Scolecomorphus uluguruensis Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Uluguru black caecilian or Nyingwa caecilian, Tanzania
- Scolecomorphus vittatus (Boulenger, 1895), ribbon caecilian or banded caecilian, Tanzania
References
edit- 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.