ORDER: Apoda
("A-"
without, "poda" feet; Greek)
Caecilians
(From Greek, "blind
ones.") Above, Ichthyophis kohtaoensis.
Definition:
Limbless, tailless amphibians that are generally fossorial or aquatic.
They possess a unique extensor organ between the eye and nostril. Body
with ring-like annuli, making them worm-like in appearance.
Some species lack eyes. Many species possess small scales under the skin, particularly near
body folds. They generally exercise internal fertilization.
Because
of their secretive habits in difficult habitats in tropical jungles,
caecilians are rather poorly known except in terms of anatomy. The
major 20th century researcher was Edward H. Taylor (1889-1978), who
produced a tremendous number of species descriptions, culminating in a
massive monograph on the group (Taylor, 1968). Other researchers
studied the anatomy of caecilians (Marvalee Wake, Ronald Nussbaum) in
the 1980s-1990s.
Literature:
Duellman,
Wm., and Linda Trueb. 1986. Biology of amphibians. McGraw-Hill.
Hofricher,
Robert (editor). 2000. Amphibians: the world of frogs, toads,
salamanders and newts. Firefly Books.
Taylor,
E. H. 1968. The caecilians of the world. University of Kansas
Press, Lawrence.
