new limbless species found

Limbless amphibian species found

By Sivaramakrishnan Parameswaran

BBC Tamil Service

A UK-Indian team of scientists have announced the discovery of a new species of limbless amphibian.The animal was identified by accident in the Western Ghats area in the state of Kerala, South India. The specimens were found inside moist soil after digging the shrub-covered bank of a mountain stream. The creature - about 168mm in length and pink in colour - belongs to an enigmatic, limbless group of amphibians known as the caecilians. Ramachandran Kotharambath, lead author of the report, told the BBC Tamil Service that the animal was identified as a new species following extensive comparisons with other, similar examples from this amphibian group.According to the researchers, specimens of the novel caecilian - named Gegeneophis primus - were collected during field works in two consecutive monsoons, first in October 2010 and then in August 2011.They were discovered at a valley on a plantation in the Wynad district of Kerala.

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