''Uraeotyphlus'' is a 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 ...

s in the family

Ichthyophiidae The Ichthyophiidae are the family of Asiatic tailed caecilians or fish caecilians found in South and Southeast Asia as well as southernmost China. They are primitive caecilians, lacking many of the derived characters found in the other families ...

. There are seven species in this genus, all of which are

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 the Western Ghats of southwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Previously, the genus has also been placed in its own

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 ...

family Uraeotyphlidae.

Description

''Uraeotyphlus'' are relatively small sized caecilians ranging from to in length. Unlike the more 'advanced' caecilians, members of this genus have a true tail with vertebrae, and their

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

has a relatively complex structure. However, unlike the more 'primitive' caecilians, the mouth is recessed below the snout, there are no tertiary annuli, and the tentacular opening are far forward of the eyes, and below the nostril. The pattern of annulation among species of ''Uraeotyphlus'' falls into two clear types based on the differentiation of primary and higher-order annuli, and the number of annular divisions per vertebra and whether this varies along the body. This difference is reflected in the recognition of ''U. oxyurus'' group ('' U. interruptus, U. menoni, U. narayani, U. oxyurus'') and the ''U. malabaricus'' group ('' U. malabaricus'' and '' U. oommeni'').

Ecology and reproduction

They are burrowing animals, which lay eggs that hatch into free-living larvae.

Species

The genus contains seven species: * ''

Uraeotyphlus gansi ''Uraeotyphlus gansi'', the Gansi caecilian, is a rare species of caecilian, endemic to the Western Ghats of India. It was discovered in the Kaakkaachi-Naalumukku area of the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve. ''U. gansi'' was named after Ca ...

'' Gower, Rajendran, Nussbaum, and Wilkinson, 2008 * ''

Uraeotyphlus interruptus ''Uraeotyphlus interruptus'', also known as the Chengalam caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in southern India and is only known from its type locality, Chengalam village in ...

'' Pillai and Ravichandran, 1999 * ''

Uraeotyphlus malabaricus ''Uraeotyphlus malabaricus'' is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and is known from its type locality, "Malabar" in Kerala, and from the Nilgiri mountains in Tamil Nadu. It is kno ...

'' (Beddome, 1870) * ''

Uraeotyphlus menoni ''Uraeotyphlus menoni'', also known as Menon's caecilian or Kerala caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the state of Kerala in the Western Ghats, India. The specific name ''menoni'' honours K. Ra ...

'' Annandale, 1913 * ''

Uraeotyphlus narayani ''Uraeotyphlus narayani'', or Narayan's caecilian, is a species of caecilian endemic to the Western Ghats of India. Description This species is grey with a pale, flesh-coloured belly. A median greenish line runs between the chin and the tail ...

'' Seshachar, 1939 * ''

Uraeotyphlus oommeni ''Uraeotyphlus oommeni'', sometimes known as the Oommen's caecilian, Oommen's Uraeotyphlus, or Bonnacord caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. Within ''Uraeotyphlus'', it belongs to the '' U. malabaricus'' group sho ...

'' Gower and Wilkinson, 2007 * ''

Uraeotyphlus oxyurus ''Uraeotyphlus oxyurus'', also known as the red caecilian, sharp-nosed caecilian, dark-brown caecilian, pale-throated caecilian, or harp-tailed caecilian, is a species of caecilian in the family Ichthyophiidae. It is endemic to the Western Gha ...

'' (Duméril and Bibron, 1841)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135201 Amphibian genera Amphibians of Asia Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters