Herp.-Caecilian Families

Icthyophis glutinosus
- Family- Icthyophiidae
- guard eggs
- recessed mouth
- ~2 feet long
Typhylonectes eiselti
- Family- Typhylonectidae
- entirely aquatic
- viviparous
- recessed mouth
- ~2.5 feet long
Caecilia thompsoni
- Family- Caeciliidae
- largest caecilian ~5 feet long
Family- Caeciliidae

Caecilia thompsoni
Family-Ichthyophiidae

Icthyophis glutinosus
Family- Typhlonectidae

Typhlonectes eiselti
General information of Caecilians
- Order- Gymnophiona (Apoda)
- 6 families
- 34 genera
- 160 species
- Burrowing adaptations: limbless, elongated, small eyes covered with skin
- Size range: 3 inches to 5 feet (65 to 1500 mm)
More general information of Caecilians
- Annular rings (sometimes bear secondary annuli)
- rings sometimes bear rudimentary scales
- Each ring is associated with vertebra
- Have a protrusible tentacle between the eye and nostril (used for olfaction)
- Tenticular foramen in skull for the protrusible tentacle to pass through
Even more general information of Caecilians
- All males have a phallodeum (intromittant organ); suggests internal fertilization
- Some species are oviparous with aquatic larvae and females stay with eggs
- Some species are viviparous and fetuses have specialized teeth to scrape cells from oviduct lining

Author

Shyannetw

110203

Card Set

Herp.-Caecilian Families

Description

Herpetology

Updated

2011-10-30T06:42:18Z