Caecilians: The Limbless Enigma

Caecilians are amphibians with long, limbless bodies that resemble worms or snakes more than frogs or salamanders. Their name means “blind ones,” a reference to their tiny, skin-covered (or in some cases, non-existent) eyes - which probably don’t get much use, as they spend most their lives burrowing underground. Caecilians are unusual for amphibians in that 75% of them give birth to live young, oftentimes, fully formed. There are also a few species where the mother actually grows a layer of nutritious, fatty skin that is eaten off by her own young, which is analogous to breastfeeding in mammals.