Dermophis mexicanus: Difference between revisions

| status = VU LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN"iucn status 16 November 2021">{{IUCN2012.1cite iucn |assessorsauthor=Santos-Barrera,IUCN Georgina;SSC Wake,Amphibian Marvalee;Specialist Measey,Group John; Wilkinson, Mark|yeardate=2004|id=595452020 |title=''Dermophis mexicanus'' |downloadedvolume=20122020 |page=e.T59545A53988419 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-082.RLTS.T59545A53988419.en |access-26date=16 November 2021}}</ref>

| regnumgenus = [[Animalia]]Dermophis

| phylumspecies = [[Chordata]]mexicanus

The adult Mexican burrowing [[caecilian]] grows to a length of {{convert|30|to|50|cm|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Digimorph>{{cite web |url=http://digimorph.org/specimens/Dermophis_mexicanus/ |title=''Dermophis mexicanus'', Mexican Burrowing Caecilian |author=Gosselin-Ildari , Ashley |work=Digimorph |publisher=Stony Brook University |accessdateaccess-date=2012-08-26}}</ref> In general appearance, it resembles a large [[earthworm]]. ThereAround are about onea hundred transverse annular folds in the skin which give the appearance of segments. The head has a pointed snout, a single row of teeth in the lower jaw, and two [[Vestigiality|vestigial]] eyes covered with skin. There, iswith a pair of protrusible tentacles between the eyes and the nostrils. The body is elongated and there are no limbs. The upper surface is dark grey and the under surface pale graygrey with darker markings on the annuli.<ref name=AmphibiaWeb>{{cite web |url=http://www.amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Dermophis&where-species=mexicanus |title=''Dermophis mexicanus'' |author=Chantasirivisal, Peera |date=2005-09-27 |work=AmphibiaWeb |accessdateaccess-date=2012-08-26}}</ref>

The Mexican burrowing caecilian is found in [[Mexico]], [[Guatemala]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], [[Nicaragua]], and possibly [[Belize]], mostly on the Atlantic side, but also in some isolated parts of the Pacific slope. Its natural [[habitat]]s are subtropical or tropical dry [[forest]]s, moist lowland forests, moist [[montane forest]]s, [[plantation]]s, rural gardens, and heavily degraded former forestforests. It is fossorial, living in damp, loose soil and under leaf litter, logs, and plant debris, often in [[banana]] and [[coffee]] plantations. It is found at altitudes of up to {{convert|1200|m|abbr=on}} above sea level.<ref name=IUCN"iucn status 16 November 2021" />

The Mexican burrowing caecilian feeds on [[invertebrate]]s, including [[earthworm]]s, [[termite]]s, [[Cricket_Cricket (insect)|crickets]], [[slug]]s, and [[snail]]s.<ref name=Digimorph/> It emerges onto the ground surface on nights with light rainfall and catches small [[Predation|prey]] that come within its reach. Larger individuals may eat mice and small lizards. It moves by internal [[concertina]]-like movements and by undulating theits body from side to side.<ref name=AmphibiaWeb/>

This caecilian is [[ViviparyViviparity|viviparous]]. Males start spermatogenesis at 1 years of age but may not reproduce until year two due to a greater abundance of spermatogenic lobules. Females can start reproducing after 1 year, but most reproduce in their second year. Fertilisation is internal and up to sixteen16 developing larvae subsist on the yolks of their eggs for three months. Then, they develop rasping teeth and feed on maternal glandular secretions, scraping the inside of the oviduct to stimulate thetheir production of these.<ref name=AmphibiaWeb/> When theythe young emerge, after eleven11 months of gestation, they are {{convert|10|to|15|cm|abbr=on}} long. They then shed their larval teeth and rapidly grow a set of adult ones.<ref name=AmphibiaWeb/>

The Mexican burrowing caecilian is listed as Vulnerableleast concern in the [[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]]. This is because it is thought that numbers have declined by more than thirty percent over the last ten years. It has several disjunct populations, and in areas where it used to be abundant it now seems to be less common, and the locations in which it is found seem to be fewer in number. It may be persecuted in some locations because it superficially looks like a snake.<ref name=IUCN"iucn status 16 November 2021" />

{{reflistReflist}}

[[Category:AnimalsAmphibians described in 1841]]