''Caecilia marcusi'' is a species of

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians ...

in the family

Caeciliidae Caeciliidae is the family of common caecilians. They are found in Central and South America. Like other caecilians, they superficially resemble worms or snakes. Although they are the most diverse of the caecilian families, the caeciliids do ha ...

. It is found in the southwestern

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

; its range is likely to extend into Peru. ''Caecilia marcusi'' is similar to ''

Caecilia mertensi ''Caecilia mertensi'' is a species of caecilian in the family Caeciliidae from South America. The type locality is imprecise: the holotype was purportedly collected in "Seychelle Isle", but most likely originates from South America. However, mor ...

'' and could be its

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. ''Caecilia marcusi'' is a subterranean species inhabiting lowland tropical rainforest at elevations below . It is locally threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

References

marcusi Fauna of the Amazon Amphibians of Bolivia Caecilians of Brazil Amphibians described in 1985 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Caeciliidae-stub