The Scolecomorphidae are the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of caecilians, also known as tropical caecilians, buried-eyed caecilians, or African caecilians. They are found in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west- central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; th ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

, and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

Caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics ...

s are legless amphibians which superficially resemble worms or snakes. Scolecomorphids have only vestigial eyes, which are attached to the base of a pair of tentacles underneath the snout. Unlike other caecilians, they have only primary annuli; these are grooves running incompletely around the body, giving the animal a segmented appearance. All other caecilians have a complex pattern of grooves, with secondary or tertiary annuli present. Also uniquely amongst

tetrapod Tetrapods (; ) are four-limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda (). It includes extant taxon, extant and extinct amphibians, sauropsids (reptiles, including dinosaurs and therefore birds) and synapsids (p ...

s, the scolecomorphids lack a

stapes The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other animals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the foot ...

bone in the middle ear. At least some species of scolecomorphids give birth to live young, retaining the eggs inside the females' bodies until they hatch into fully formed offspring, without the presence of a free-living larval stage.

Taxonomy

Just six species of scolecomorphids are known, grouped into two genera, as follows: Family Scolecomorphidae * Genus ''Crotaphatrema'' Nussbaum, 1985 ** '' Crotaphatrema bornmuelleri'' (Werner, 1899), Bornmuller's caecilian, Cameroon ** '' Crotaphatrema lamottei'' (Nussbaum, 1981), Mont Oku caecilian, Cameroon ** '' Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis'' Lawson, 2000, Cameroon * Genus ''Scolecomorphus'' Boulenger, 1883 ** ''

Scolecomorphus kirkii ''Scolecomorphus kirkii'' (common names: Kirk's caecilian, Lake Tanganyika caecilian) is a species of caecilian in the family Scolecomorphidae. It is known from southern Malawi east of the Shire River, northern Mozambique, and Tanzania (includin ...

'' Boulenger, 1883, Kirk's caecilian or Lake Tanganyika caecilian, East Africa ** '' Scolecomorphus uluguruensis'' Barbour and Loveridge, 1928, Uluguru black caecilian or Nyingwa caecilian, Tanzania ** '' Scolecomorphus vittatus'' (Boulenger, 1895), ribbon caecilian or banded caecilian, Tanzania

References

*Nussbaum, Ronald A. and Mark Wilkinson (1989). "On the Classification and Phylogeny of Caecilians." Herpetological Monographs, (3), 1-42 * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q387119 Amphibian families Amphibians of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxa named by Edward Harrison Taylor