Herpetozoa (Jun 2022)

Chromatic and morphological anomalies in gymnophionans from India

  • Govindappa Venu,
  • Govindaiah Venkatachalaiah,
  • Halemane Ganesharao Seetharama,
  • Gandlahalli Narasimaiah Balakrishna,
  • Hmar Tlawmte Lalremsanga,
  • Robert Kenneth Browne,
  • Rajashekharaiah Nijagunaiah,
  • Narayanappa Govinda Raju,
  • Kulkarni Varadh,
  • Sompalem Ramakrishna,
  • Klaus Henle

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.35.e76397
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35
pp. 121 – 132

Abstract

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Caecilians (Gymnophiona) are commonly known as limbless amphibians and are the least understood vertebrate order. In this paper, we documented skin color, eye, jaw, snout, tentacular aperture and cloacal anomalies in 12 individuals of four species belonging to the three caecilian genera Ichthyophis, Uraeotyphlus and Gegeneophis collected from hotspots of caecilian diversity in India, the Western Ghats and Northeast India. As we found the majority of these individuals in coffee and tea plantations, we discuss the possibility that anomalies are the result of exposure to agrochemicals that are frequently used in plantations.