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Caecilians: odd little amphibians.

 
 
littlek
 
Reply Sun 16 Apr, 2006 06:50 pm
Caecilians (Gymnophiona) are amphibious creatures that look like wormy snakes, some bear eggs, some bear live young and some do a combo of both (babies hatch from eggs inside the mother and are later born).

They are curious animals..... here's a couple links to pages devoted to the things: University of TX and Florida International University

And an article about them on the BBC website in which one species is described. The mother in this species develops a nutritious layer of skin which her offspring eat: BBC

So, these critters have jaws, two rows of pointed teeth. They have retractable tentacles at the front of their heads and weak or no eyesight. They sometimes have scales below their wrinkled/segmented-looking skin. There are many species and are found in almost all tropical areas. But, they aren't seen so much because they live under ground.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41554000/jpg/_41554436_amph_203i.jpg

http://cluster3.biosci.utexas.edu/courses/herpetology/photos/ichthyophis.sp.gif
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ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 16 Apr, 2006 07:09 pm
Not classically beautiful, but interesting nonetheless.


Gotta love those herptiles.
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Sun 16 Apr, 2006 07:17 pm
They are one of those sort of genre that merge the neatly held boundaries between families (or something). They look sort of eel-ish, or worm-ish, or snake-ish, but they're amphinians......
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dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Sun 16 Apr, 2006 07:24 pm
TENTACLES?
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littlek
 
  1  
Reply Sun 16 Apr, 2006 07:33 pm
Ooooh...... not tentacles..... feelers. Antenae.
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rosborne979
 
  1  
Reply Tue 19 Sep, 2006 07:17 pm
I wish I could see a Cecalian.

I would also like to see a Velvet Worm, but they live south of the equator, and I rarely get a chance to travel there.
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