Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this page were taken by Paul Smith and are used with their permission.
BLUE BURROWING CAECILIAN Siphonops paulensis
Though it looks suspiciously like a big blue-grey earthworm, this Caecilian is a subterranean amphibian and its morphological similarities to worms are more a result of convergent evolution - two groups independently finding the same answers to the problems by living in the same environment. This species is rarely seen and inhabits damp soils in humid forest areas, coming to the surface only when necessary. The specimen in the photo was accidentally discovered when digging a hole and unfortunately the head end was damaged in the process!! It represents the first record of any species in this understudied group for San Rafael NP.
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FIGURE 1 - (FPANF341PH) Adult, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith December 2007).
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