''Uraeotyphlus narayani'', or Narayan's caecilian, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

Description

This species is grey with a pale, flesh-coloured belly. A median greenish line runs between the chin and the tail. Its eyes are distinct with a white patch around them. The nostril are placed dorsally on the snout and visible from above. The tentacles are placed below the nostrils, not visible from above. The tip of the tail is whitish, and the snout tip and lower jaw are cream-coloured. It was described from

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, and has been reported from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

.Bhatta, G. 1998. A field guide to the caecilians of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Biosciences, Vol. 23(1): 73-85

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narayani Narayani may refer to: * Narayani (deity), another name for Lakshmi * Narayani, an epithet of Yogamaya * Narayani River, or Gandaki River, in Nepal * Narayani Temple, in Narayani village, near Khalikote, Odisha, India * Narayani Zone, a former a ...

Amphibians of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Amphibians described in 1939 {{Caecilian-stub