A UK-Indian team of scientists have discovered a new species of limbless amphibians. The limbless amphibians were accidentally discovered at a valley on a plantation in the district Wynad in the state of Kerala, South India. This new caecilian specie was found inside moist soil after digging the shrub covered bank of a mountain stream. The creature is about 168mm (6.5 inches) in length and, unlike most caecilians which have a dark skin pigmentation, is pink in color. The skin of this species has numerous ring-shaped folds, annuli, that partially wrap the body; giving it a worm-like appearance. Scientists have also discovered that these caecilians secrete a toxin to help deter predators.
Before being categorized as a limbless amphibian, scientists had carried out extensive testing by comparing it with other similar caecilian species. Through several comparative analysis studies scientist finally established the species and gave it the scientific name Gegeneophis primus and common name of Malabar Cardamom Geg. The common name refers to the northern part of the State and to the cardamom estate from where it was discovered. The discovery of this species is the first new discovery of a new Gegeneophis species from Kerala since 1964.
The discovery and identification of this species was a collaborative effort between the department of zoology at the University of Kerala, London’s Natural History Museum, and the Central University at Kasargod. Since these new limbless amphibians have just been discovered there is still a lot of research that is needed to be done so that scientists can get a better understanding of the species. Currently, scientists from the collaborative efforts of the species discovery are expanding their research efforts in hope to find more about the distribution, natural history, and habitat preferences of the species.
These new limbless species appear very similar in appearance to the earthworms found in the United States. If I were over in South India cleaning up after a monsoon, like the people were that discovered it, I probably wouldn’t have thought anything of the critters and would have kept digging because they seem so similar to a worm. This new discovery has seemed to have re-sparked the search for new caecilian species in the Western Ghats and it will be interesting what other organisms they will find in this un-excavated soil.
1 comment:
Very neat! So much diversity in the soil that we are probably missing. Go caecillians!
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