''Sylvacaecilia'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus of

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of ...

in the family

Grandisoniidae The Grandisoniidae are a family of common caecilians found in Africa, Seychelles and India. Like other caecilians, they superficially resemble worms or snakes. The family was formerly known as Indotyphlidae. Taxonomy The genera in this fami ...

. The only species is ''Sylvacaecilia grandisonae'', also known as the Aleku caecilian or Ethiopian caecilian. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to southwestern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and known from the Gambela,

Oromia Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...

, and

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern E ...

Taxonomy

''Sylvacaecilia grandisonae'' was described by

Edward Harrison Taylor Edward Harrison Taylor (April 23, 1889 – June 16, 1978) was an American herpetologist from Missouri. Family Taylor was born in Maysville, Missouri, to George and Loretta Taylor. He had an older brother, Eugene. Education Taylor studied at th ...

in 1970 as ''Geotrypetes grandisonae'', although he noted that the generic assignment was provisional. Because of significant differences in morphology and life history in comparison to other ''Geotrypetes'' species, it was moved to its own, monotypic genus ''Sylvacaecilia'' by

Marvalee Wake Marvalee Hendricks Wake (born July 31, 1939) is an American zoologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, known for her research in the biology of caecilians (limbless amphibians) and vertebrate development and evolution. A 19 ...

in 1987.

Etymology

The generic name ''Sylvacaecilia'' is derived from Greek ''sylva'', referring to the forest habitat of these animals, and Latin ''caecilia'', in reference to the taxon. The specific name ''grandisonae'' honours Miss Alice G. C. Grandison, a Curator of Herpetology at

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

and whom Taylor acknowledges as having been "helpful in providing these specimens for study".

Description

''Sylvacaecilia grandisonae'' was described based on two specimens, the female

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

measuring in total length, and the male

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype nor a syntype). Of ...

measuring in total length. The body is relatively thick, with body width in length approximately 24 times. ''Sylvacaecilia grandisonae'' has free-living larval stage.

Habitat and conservation

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are tropical deciduous forests at elevations of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. Adults live in soil or mud and under leaf-litter. Larvae have been found in very wet mud at the edge of a stream. No major threats are known, although habitat disturbance could still be an issue. It occurs in the

Kafa Biosphere Reserve The Kafa Biosphere Reserve is located in the Kafa Zone of Ethiopia approximately 460 km southwest of Addis Ababa. The Bonga National Forest Priority Area partly forms the southern boundary of the Biosphere Reserve, whilst the eastern boun ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q11848307, from2=Q2019547 Indotyphlidae Monotypic amphibian genera Amphibians of Ethiopia Endemic fauna of Ethiopia Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor Amphibians described in 1970 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot