Digging
| Digging | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Scolecomorphidae | ||||||||||||
| Taylor , 1969 |
The burial burrows (Scolecomorphidae) are a family of the sneak amphibians (Gymnophiona) that occurs in tropical Africa.
features
Grave burrows are 27 to 45 centimeters long, females have more vertebrae and are therefore a little longer. Grave burrows are black or brown in color, some species have a light-colored underside. Along with the Erdwühlen and Typhlonectidae , the family has a number of derived characteristics. The skull is reinforced to adapt to the way of life burrowing in the ground and the number of skull bones is reduced. The mouth opening is below. Bony eye sockets are missing. The very small eyes are located at the base of the large tentacles that lie far in front of the muzzle below the nostrils and are hidden under the prefrontal (a skull bone) when these are in the resting position. The prefrontal and maxillopalatine (a skull bone) form a channel for tentacle movement. When the tentacles are stretched out, the eyes move with them and are located outside the skull bones.
The body of the grave digger is curled by circumferential skin folds (annuli). Tertiary annuli are absent. Compared to more primitive sneak families, they have fewer scales. A tail is also missing. Columella (an ossicle in amphibians, reptiles and birds) is the only family of sneaking amphibians that is missing in the burrows.
Way of life
Grave diggers live in the ground or in fallen leaves. Termites make up a significant part of their diet . All, if known, vivipar (viviparous). Embryo and larval stages are spent in the fallopian tube.
Genera and species
There are two genera Crotaphatrema , from Cameroon and Scolecomorphus from Tanzania and Malawi . Each has three types each:
- Genus Crotaphatrema walnut, 1985
- Crotaphatrema bornmuelleri (Werner, 1899)
- Crotaphatrema lamottei (walnut, 1981)
- Crotaphatrema tchabalmbaboensis (Lawson, 2000)
- Genus Scolecomorphus Boulenger, 1883
- Scolecomorphus kirkii (Boulenger, 1883)
- Scolecomorphus uluguruensis (Barbour & Loveridge, 1928)
- Scolecomorphus vittatus (Boulenger, 1895)
literature
- Werner Himstedt: The blind diggers . ISBN 3894324341
- Wilfried Westheide & Reinhard Rieger: Special Zoology Part 2: Vertebrae and Skull Animals , 1st edition, Spectrum Akademischer Verlag Heidelberg • Berlin, 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0307-3
- K. Deckert, Gisela Deckert , GE Freytag, G. Peters, G. Sterba: Urania animal kingdom, fish, amphibians, reptiles. Urania-Verlag, 1991, ISBN 3-332-00376-3 .
