Dermophis mexicanus (Mexican caecilian, Peters 1880; extant) nests as a sister to Eocaecilia.
The nasal and premaxilla are fused. The maxilla, lacrimal, prefrontal and palatine are fused. The occipital elements and the paraspheniod are fused (= Os basale). The parietal and postparietal are fused. The jugal, squamosal, postfrontal and postorbital are fused. The dentary and surangular are fused. The splenial, articular and angular are fused. The pterygoid and quadrate are fused.
Limbs and limb girdles are absent in all extant caecilians and the majority of species also lack a tail. Caecilians have a unique chemosensory organ located on the head called the tentacle. The tentacle exits the skull through the tentacular foramen located between the nares and orbit
This species lives in humid to dry soils beneath leaf-litter, logs, banana or coffee leaves and hulls or similar ground cover. It is viviparous. Image above from Digimorph. org and used with permission.
The scales of Dermtophis are similar fish scales The scales are arranged in oblique rows, directly beneath the epidermis. Each scale is enclosed within a pouch, the walls of which are formed in part by the epidermis, in part by the corium. Consequently the individual scales do not touch one another, even though they are arranged in an overlapping fashion. |
