Scolecomorphidae Explained

The Scolecomorphidae (from Greek, Modern (1453-);: σκώλεκώς, 'wormlike' and Greek, Modern (1453-);: μορφή, 'form') are a family of caecilians also known as tropical caecilians, buried-eyed caecilians, or African caecilians. They are found in Cameroon in West Africa, and Malawi and Tanzania in East Africa. Caecilians are legless amphibians which superficially resemble worms or snakes.

Scolecomorphids have only vestigial eyes, which are attached to the base of a pair of tentacles underneath the snout. Unlike other caecilians, they have only primary annuli; these are grooves running incompletely around the body, giving the animal a segmented appearance. All other caecilians have a complex pattern of grooves, with secondary or tertiary annuli present. Also uniquely amongst tetrapods, the scolecomorphids lack a stapes bone in the middle ear.^[1]

At least some species of scolecomorphids give birth to live young, retaining the eggs inside the females' bodies until they hatch into fully formed offspring, without the presence of a free-living larval stage.^[1]

Taxonomy

Just six species of scolecomorphids are known, grouped into two genera, as follows:

Family Scolecomorphidae

• Genus Crotaphatrema Nussbaum, 1985
  • Crotaphatrema bornmuelleri (Werner, 1899), Bornmuller's caecilian, Cameroon
  • Crotaphatrema lamottei (Nussbaum, 1981), Mont Oku caecilian, Cameroon
  • Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis Lawson, 2000, Cameroon
• Genus Scolecomorphus Boulenger, 1883
  • Scolecomorphus kirkii Boulenger, 1883, Kirk's caecilian or Lake Tanganyika caecilian, East Africa
  • Scolecomorphus uluguruensis Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Uluguru black caecilian or Nyingwa caecilian, Tanzania
  • Scolecomorphus vittatus (Boulenger, 1895), ribbon caecilian or banded caecilian, Tanzania

References

• Nussbaum, Ronald A. and Mark Wilkinson (1989). "On the Classification and Phylogeny of Caecilians." Herpetological Monographs, (3), 1-42
• San Mauro . Diego . Phylogeny of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear RAG1 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2004.05.014 . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 33 . 413–427 . November 2004 . David J. Gower . Oommen V. Oommen . Mark Wilkinson . Rafael Zardoya . 15336675 . 2.
• San Mauro . Diego . Miguel Vences . Marina Alcobendas . Rafael Zardoya . Axel Meyer . Initial diversification of living amphibians predated the breakup of Pangaea . American Naturalist . 165 . 590–599 . May 2005 . 10.1086/429523 . 15795855 . 5.
• 10.1093/sysbio/syp043 . San Mauro . Diego . David J. Gower . Tim Massingham . Mark Wilkinson . Rafael Zardoya . James A. Cotton . Experimental design in caecilian systematics: phylogenetic information of mitochondrial genomes and nuclear rag1 . Systematic Biology . 58 . 4 . 425–438 . August 2009 . 20525595. 10.1.1.577.2856 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Cogger, H.G. . Zweifel, R.G.. Nussbaum, Ronald A.. 1998. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. Academic Press. San Diego. 978-0-12-178560-4. 56.