Caeciliidae

Caeciliidae is the family of common caecilians. They are found in Central and South America. Like other caecilians, they superficially resemble worms or snakes.

Although they are the most diverse of the caecilian families, the caeciliids do have a number of features in common that distinguish them from other caecilians. In particular, their skulls have relatively few bones, with those that are present being fused to form a solid ram to aid in burrowing through the soil. The mouth is recessed beneath the snout, and there is no tail.

Many caeciliids lay their eggs in moist soil. The eggs then hatch into aquatic larvae, which live in seepages in the soil, or in small streams. However, some species lack a larval stage, with the eggs hatching into juveniles with the same form as the adults, or else lack eggs and give birth to live young.

Phylogeny

Traditional taxonomy, which is reflected in the "Scientific Classification" box in this article, categorizes extant amphibia into three orders: ''Anura'' (frogs and toads), ''Caudata'' (newts and salamanders), and ''Gymnophiona'' (caecilians). However, there is considerable debate among paleontologists and molecular geneticists concerning the phylogenetic relationship between amphibians, and indeed whether ''Amphibia'' is a monophyletic clade or a polyphyletic collection of diverse evolutionary lineages.

The more limited debate (operating on the assumption that ''Amphibia'' is a monophyletic clade) is whether ''Caudata'' is more closely related to ''Anura'' (in a shared clade called ''Batrachia'' — the traditional view) or to ''Gymnophiona'' (suggested by research in 2005). The broader debate is whether ''Amphibia'' is monophyletic or polyphyletic. The latter view considers ''Caudata'' and ''Gymnophiona'' to be more closely related to amniotes (reptiles, mammals and birds) than to ''Anura''.

Species

*Genus ''Caecilia'' – common caecilians
**'' Caecilia abitaguae''
**'' Caecilia albiventris''
**''Caecilia antioquiaensis''
**'' Caecilia armata''
**'' Caecilia attenuata''
**'' Caecilia bokermanni''
**'' Caecilia caribea''
**''Caecilia corpulenta''
**''Caecilia crassisquama''
**''Caecilia degenerata''
**''Caecilia disossea''
**''Caecilia dunni''
**''Caecilia flavopunctata''
**''Caecilia gracilis''
**''Caecilia guntheri''
**'' Caecilia inca''
**'' Caecilia isthmica''
**'' Caecilia leucocephala''
**'' Caecilia marcusi''
**''Caecilia mertensi''
**''Caecilia museugoeldi''
**'' Caecilia nigricans''
**'' Caecilia occidentalis''
**''Caecilia orientalis''
**'' Caecilia pachynema''
**'' Caecilia perdita''
**'' Caecilia pressula''
**''Caecilia pulchraserrana''
**''Caecilia subdermalis''
**'' Caecilia subnigricans''
**''Caecilia subterminalis''
**'' Caecilia tentaculata''
**'' Caecilia tenuissima''
**'' Caecilia thompsoni''
**'' Caecilia volcani''
*Genus ''Oscaecilia'' – South American caecilians
**'' Oscaecilia bassleri''
**'' Oscaecilia elongata''
**'' Oscaecilia equatorialis''
**'' Oscaecilia hypereumeces''
**'' Oscaecilia koepckeorum''
**''Oscaecilia ochrocephala''
**'' Oscaecilia osae''
**'' Oscaecilia polyzona''
**'' Oscaecilia zweifeli''

References

Further reading

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Frost, Darrel R. 2004. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 3.0 (22 August 2004) American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA

AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. 2004. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Retrieved 26 August 2004

{{Taxonbar, from=Q913066

Amphibian families
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque