Caecilians are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with … See more

Caecilians' anatomy is highly adapted for a burrowing lifestyle. In a couple of species belonging to the primitive genus Ichthyophis vestigial traces of limbs have been found, and in Typhlonectes compressic… See more

Caecilians are native to wet, tropical regions of Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, parts of East and West Africa, the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, Central America, and in northern and eastern … See more

The name caecilian derives from the Latin word caecus, meaning "blind", referring to the small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. The name dates back to the taxonomic name of the first species described by Carl Linnaeus, … See more

Little is known of the evolutionary history of the caecilians, which have left a very sparse fossil record. The first fossil, a vertebra dated to the Paleocene, was not discovered until 1972. Other vertebrae, which hav… See more