Researchers have discovered a new family of legless amphibians in north-eastern India that have ancient links with Africa, it was announced.
SD Biju. File picture Image: YouTube
SD Biju. File picture Image: YouTube
The discovery of the tailless burrowing caecilians was made by a
team of international scientists led by Professor SD Biju from
Delhi University, the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
reported.
The scientists conducted soil surveys at 238 sites, beginning in
2006.
The caecilians, said to superficially resemble earthworms, are
one of the three categories of amphibians. They live hidden in the
ground and are among the least explored orders of the
amphibians.
“Scientists performed DNA analysis of the specimens and
confirmed that it is an entirely new family,” Biju said.
The new family has been named Chikilidae and the new species,
Chikila, derived from Garo, a tribal language spoken in the
region.
Researchers estimate that the newly discovered caecilians
evolved separately from other species of caecilians more than 140
million years ago.
The new family is of ancient lineage whose closest relatives
occur in Africa, a relationship established hundreds of millions of
years ago before India broke away from Africa and collided with
Asia creating the Himalayan mountain range.
“The work is a significant contribution to the understanding of
vertebrate evolution and biogeography,” Biju said.
Scientists also said the discovery highlighted north-eastern
India as a poorly studied region likely to harbour additional
ancient lineages of organisms found nowhere else on Earth.
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