Siphonopidae |  |
28 species in 5 genera
Commonly Called South American Caecilians
Siphonops annulatus
Photo by Andrés Acosta
(Click for family gallery)Siphonopids, small to medium sized (112 mm to 120 mm total length) caecilians, burrow in moist humid tropical forest floors of South America. They are distinguished by the following combination of characters: oviparity, imperforate stapes and lack of inner mandibular teeth. Species in this family may have forms of parental care but much remains unknown. Many species exhibit maternal dermatophagy, a reproductive behavior in which the young feed on a highly specialized lipid-rich outer layer of their mothers skin using a unique set of "fetal" multicuspid teeth (e.g., Microcaecilia dermatophaga, Siphonops annulatus).
Siphonopids were previously placed in Caecilidae until Wilkinson et al (2011); subsequent studies placed Siphonopidae as sister taxon to Dermophiidae.
Written by AmphibiaWebNotable Family Characteristics
- Fossorial
- Inhabits mostly tropical forests
- Oviparity
- Maternal dermatophagy, documented in some species but speculated to be in all
- Morphological characters include: 1) all with primary annuli, some with secondary, none with tertiary; 2) dermal scales sometimes present; 3) imperforate stapes; 4) inner mandibular teeth absent; 5) terminal shield present at caudal end of body but no true tail
- Distribution limited to South America
Cartography Credit: Zoe Yoo, UC Berkeley
Range maps sources: AmphibiaWeb, UC Berkeley, and IUCN RedListRelevant Reference
Wilkinson, M., San Mauro, D., Sherratt, E., and Gower, D. J. 2011. A nine-family classification of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Zootaxa 2874: 41-64.
Wilkinson, M., Kupfer, A., Marques-Porto, R., Jeffkins, H., Antoniazzi, M. M., and Jared, C. (2008). One hundred million years of skin feeding? Extended parental care in a Neotropical caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Biology Letters, (4) 358-361.
Pough, F. H., R. M. Andrews, M. L. Crump, A. H. Savitzky, K. D. Wells, and M. C. Brandley. 2015. Herpetology. Fourth Edition. Massachusetts: Sinauer.
Genus Brasilotyphlus (3 species)
Brasilotyphlus braziliensis no account no photos no sound/video Brasilotyphlus dubium account no photos no sound/video Brasilotyphlus guarantanus account no photos no sound/video
Genus Luetkenotyphlus (2 species)
Luetkenotyphlus brasiliensis no account photos no sound/video Luetkenotyphlus fredi account no photos no sound/video
Genus Microcaecilia (16 species)
Microcaecilia albiceps no account photos no sound/video Microcaecilia butantan account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia dermatophaga account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia grandis no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia iwokramae account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia iyob no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia marvaleewakeae account photos no sound/video Microcaecilia nicefori no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia pricei no account photos no sound/video Microcaecilia rabei no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia rochai no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia savagei no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia supernumeraria no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia taylori no account photos no sound/video Microcaecilia trombetas no account no photos no sound/video Microcaecilia unicolor account photos no sound/video
Genus Mimosiphonops (2 species)
Mimosiphonops reinhardti account no photos no sound/video Mimosiphonops vermiculatus no account no photos no sound/video
Genus Siphonops (5 species)
Siphonops annulatus account photos no sound/video Siphonops hardyi no account photos no sound/video Siphonops insulanus no account no photos no sound/video Siphonops leucoderus no account no photos no sound/video Siphonops paulensis no account photos no sound/video
Citation: AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. [web application]. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: https://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed:
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