Scolecomorphidae

The grave digging ( Scolecomorphidae ) are a family of caecilians ( Gymnophiona ) that is found in tropical Africa.

Features

Be grave digging 27 to 45 inches long, females have more vertebrae, and are therefore a bit longer. Grave digging are colored black or brown, some species have a light base. Together with the Erdwühlen and Typhlonectidae, the family on a set of derived attributes. So the skull is reinforced in adaptation to the grave in the bottom end of life and reduces the number of cranial bones. The jaw opening is under constant. Bony orbital missing. The very small eyes are located at the base of lying far forward on the muzzle below the nostrils large tentacles and, if they are in the rest position of the prefrontal ( a skull bone ) hidden. Prefrontal and Maxillopalatinum ( a skull bone ) form a channel for the tentacle movement. If the tentacles outstretched, the eyes move with and are located outside the skull bone.

The body of the grave digging is ringed by circumferential skin folds ( annuli ). Tertiary annuli are missing. Compared to urtümlicheren Schleichenlurchfamilien they have less dander. A tail is missing. As the only Schleichenlurchfamilien missing the grave digging the columella ( a ossicles in amphibians, reptiles and birds ).

Way of life

Grave digging live in the ground or in leaf litter. A significant part of their diet consists of termites. All are, as far as known, viviparous ( ovoviviparous ). Embryo and larval stages are spent in the fallopian tube.

Genera and species

There are two genera Crotaphatrema, from Cameroon and Scolecomorphus from Tanzania and Malawi. Each has three types:

• Genus Crotaphatrema Nussbaum, 1985 Crotaphatrema bornmuelleri ( Werner, 1899)
• Crotaphatrema lamottei ( Nussbaum, 1981)
• Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis ( Lawson, 2000)

• Scolecomorphus kirkii ( Boulenger, 1883)
• Scolecomorphus uluguruensis ( Barbour & Loveridge, 1928)
• Scolecomorphus vittatus ( Boulenger, 1895)