| Aquatic caecilians | |
|---|---|
| |
| Typhlonectes natans | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Gymnophiona |
| Clade: | Apoda |
| Family: | Typhlonectidae Taylor, 1968 |
| Genera | |
|
Atretochoana | |
Typhlonectidae, also known as aquatic caecilians or rubber eels, are a family of caecilians found east of the Andes in South America.[1]
They are viviparous animals, giving birth to young that possess external gills. Of the five extant genera in the family, Atretochoana, Potamotyphlus and Typhlonectes are entirely aquatic, while Chthonerpeton and Nectocaecilia are semi-aquatic.[1] Atretochoana reaches 100 cm (39 in) in length, but other species in the family range from 20 to 60 cm (7.9–23.6 in).[1] A sixth typhlonectid genus, Ymboirana, was recently described and is known exclusively from fossil material.[2]
- ^ a b c Vitt, L. J.; Caldwell, J. P. (25 March 2013). Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press. p. 453. ISBN 978-0-12-386920-3. OCLC 898295183.
- ^ Santos, R. O.; Wilkinson, M.; Couto Ribeiro, G.; Carvalho, A. B.; Zaher, H. (2024). "The first fossil record of an aquatic caecilian (Gymnophiona: Typhlonectidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad188.