Mexican Burrowing Caecilian Newt (Dermophis mexicanus)
Shutterstock/Reptile 4all
Worm-like amphibians known as caecilians may have lost their legs thanks to the same genetic tweaks as snakes.
Analysis of amphibian genomes suggests that caecilians and snakes, separated over hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary history, converged on the same mutations in abandoning limbs. This finding provides insight into the genetic basis of limbless evolution.
About 200 species of Caecilian newts are completely limbless and live covertly in tropical soils and waterways. Their eyes are small or non-existent…
