#WatercolorWednesday:
Aloys Zötl (Austrian, 1803-87)
Les Cécilies [Caecilians*], 1851
Watercolor & ink on paper, 44x54.5cm
https://www.gazette-drouot.com/en/article/nature-according-to-aloys-zotl/19111
*#Caecilians (Gymnophiona) are one of the 3 living orders of #amphibians alongside #frogs (Anura) & #salamanders (Urodela).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caecilian

The tender art of tadpole parenting https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/the-amphibians-that-evolved-parental-care

What #Amphibians Can Teach Us About the #Evolution of Parental Care: Eva Ringler et al. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102221-050519

"From poison #frogs to worm-like #caecilians, some amphibians are hardworking and surprisingly creative caregivers"

Researchers have found an amphibian that makes milk for its babies

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1236408925/researchers-have-found-an-amphibian-that-makes-milk-for-its-babies

#biodiversity #nature #amphibians #caecilians #convergentevolution #evolution

Plenary by the fantastic Emma Sherratt on #Caecilians #ASH56TSV

These Bizarre #Amphibians Changed The Chemical Landscape To Survive A Plague Of #Snakes https://grrlscientist.medium.com/these-bizarre-amphibians-changed-the-chemical-landscape-to-survive-a-plague-of-snakes-50f5ca16bd3b by @GrrlScientist

"#Caecilians are a group of legless serpentine #burrowing amphibians that primarily live hidden in #soil or in stream beds and resemble either a large #worm or a #snake."

Wormlike animals are first #amphibians shown to pass #microbes to their offspring.

#microbiome #transmission #Caecilians

https://phys.org/news/2023-07-wormlike-animals-amphibians-shown-microbes.html

Wormlike #animals are first #amphibians shown to pass #microbes to their offspring https://phys.org/news/2023-07-wormlike-animals-amphibians-shown-microbes.html

#ParentalCare contributes to vertical transmission of microbes in a skin-feeding and direct-developing #caecilian https://animalmicrobiome.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42523-023-00243-x

"#Caecilians are an elusive type of #amphibian that primarily live #underground and look like a cross between a worm and a snake. One of the few things that is known about caecilians is their unique method for feeding their young."

World’s first worm dating back 220 million years has been unearthed in Arizona | The Independent
#Paleontogy
#Worm
#Fossil
#Caecilians
#Kligman
#Funcusvermis
#ChinleFormation

Named Funcusvermis gilmorei, it lived at the beginning of the age of the dinosaurs

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/world-oldest-worm-arizona-found-b2269883.html

220-Million-Year-Old #Fossils Identified as Oldest Known Caecilian https://www.sci.news/paleontology/funcusvermis-gilmorei-11597.html

#Triassic stem #caecilian supports dissorophoid origin of living #amphibians https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05646-5

#Caecilians have cylindrical bodies with a compact, bullet-shaped skull that helps them burrow #underground. They spend their lives burrowing in leaf-litter or #soil searching for prey such as #worms and #insects.

Losing the larval stage… one step at a time? https://ecoevocommunity.nature.com/posts/losing-the-larval-stage-one-step-at-a-time

The evolution of reproductive modes and life cycles in #amphibians https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34474-4

"The most frequent evolutionary transitions have been from the ancestral aquatic mode of reproduction to modes that are relatively uncommon in that group: live-bearing in #caecilians, adults retaining larval features in #salamanders, and #frogs with terrestrial eggs but aquatic #larvae."

... and finally, this is Hypogeophis montanus (montane Mahe caecilian/everdter nwanr
montanny). This caecilian species occurs at the top of the two very highest peaks in the Seychelles between 718–731 m/asl with higher elevations on these peaks largely uninhabitable for caecilians. The highly restricted range of the species and suitable habitats make H. montanus one of the most threatened amphibians to climate change.

#caecilians #amphibians #herpetology #taxonomy

This is Hypogeophis pti (the Petite Praslin Caecilian). The species of caecilian (an Order of limbless amphibians) occurs on the island of Praslin, Seychelles. As with most other caecilians in the Seychelles, the species is fossorial (living underground). It occurs in palm dominated forests, which are at high risk of forest fires due to climate change. This species is possibly the smallest caecilian species in the world.

#caecilians #herpetology #amphibians #climatechange #conservation

#introduction

Hi everyone,
I'm a UK based biologist mostly working on #amphibians (#caecilians and #frogs) and #reptiles (#snakes and #lizards). Most of my research revolves around #evolution, #populationgenetics, #speciation, #phylogeny, #genomics, #ecology, #climatechange and #conservation. My research projects occur primarily in the UK, Ecuador, Seychelles and Papua New Guinea.

I hope to share results coming out of our lab and to share some cool facts about our study organisms!