Caecilians look like worms but are actually amphibians that inhabit the wet tropical regions of south America, Africa and south east Asia. They make up one of the three orders of amphibians, alongside frogs and salamanders. Lacking any limbs but possessing a retractable sensory tentacle, caecilians - with the exception of a few aquatic species - have a burrowing lifestyle. The skin of one African species is fat and nutrient-rich, so the larvae peel this skin off the parent and eat it.
Did you know?
In one caecilian species a mother grows a new skin every three days as it is eaten by her larvae.
Scientific name: Gymnophiona
The shading illustrates the diversity of this group - the darker the colour the greater the number of species. Data provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The caecilians are an order (Gymnophiona) of amphibians that superficially resemble earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. All extant caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as the clade Apoda. They are mostly distributed in the tropics of South and Central America, Africa, and South Asia. The diets of caecilians are not well known.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.