CHIKILIDAE - NEW AMPHIBIAN
DISCOVERED IN INDIA
G'day folks,
An entirely new family of limbless
amphibians was discovered in northeastern India in 2012.
Part of the
caecilian order of amphibians, these creatures look more like earthworms
than frogs or toads because of the inexistence of limbs in their
bodies. These amphibians, christened Chikilidae, build underground nests
and can grow to be more than a meter (3.2 foot) in length.
DNA analysis of the specimens found that their closest relatives are the
Herpelidae in Africa, from which they deflected about 140 million years
ago. The discovery of the Chikilidae is a great step in understanding
amphibian evolution.
Clancy's comment: Another survivor.
I'm ...
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