Boulengerula
| Boulengerula | |
|---|---|
| |
| Boulengerula taitanus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Gymnophiona |
| Clade: | Apoda |
| Family: | Herpelidae |
| Genus: | Boulengerula Tornier, 1896 |
| Species | |
|
8 species (see text) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
Afrocaecilia Taylor, 1968 | |
Boulengerula is a genus of amphibians in the family Herpelidae.[1][2] They are found in East Africa.[1][3] They are sometimes known as Boulenger's caecilians or Usambara bluish-gray caecilians.[1]
Ecology
[edit]Boulengerula taitana feeds on earthworms, termites, dipteran larvae and other soil macrofauna. Presumably other Boulengerula have similar diets.[4]
Species
[edit]There are eight species:[1][2]
Morphology
[edit]A study described a new species, Boulengerula spawlsi found in the Ngaia Forest Reserve in Kenya. The species is distinguished by anteriorly positioned tentacular apertures and tentacular grooves that are partially or fully covered by the maxillopalatines, a trait not seen in of Boulengerula species. Additional difference in skull morphology was also noticed.[5]
| Binomial name and author | Common name |
|---|---|
| Boulengerula boulengeri Tornier, 1896 | Boulenger's caecilian, Usambara bluish-gray caecilian |
| Boulengerula changamwensis Loveridge, 1932 | Changamwensis African caecilian, Changamwe lowland caecilian, Changamwe caecilian |
| Boulengerula denhardti Nieden, 1912 | |
| Boulengerula fischeri Nussbaum & Hinkel, 1994 | |
| Boulengerula niedeni Müller, Measey, Loader, & Malonza, 2005 | |
| Boulengerula spawlsi Wilkinson, Malonza, Campbell, and Loader, 2017 | |
| Boulengerula taitana Loveridge, 1935 | Taita African caecilian, Taita Mountains caecilian |
| Boulengerula uluguruensis Barbour & Loveridge, 1928 | Uluguru African caecilian, Uluguru pink caecilian |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Boulengerula Tornier, 1896". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Herpelidae". AmphibiaWeb. University of California, Berkeley. 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
- ^ Zug, G.R., Vitt, L.V., & Caldwell, J.P. Herpetology: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, Second Edition. San Diego: Academic Press, 2001. 370.
- ^ Gaborieau, O. & Measey, G.J. (2004). "Termitivore or detritivore? A quantitative investigation into the diet of the East African caecilian Boulengerula taitanus (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae)" (PDF). Animal Biology. 54: 45–56. doi:10.1163/157075604323010042. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-25.
- ^ Wilkinson, Mark; Malonza, Patrick K.; Campbell, Patrick; Loader, Simon P. (2017-07-04). "A new species of Boulengerula Tornier, 1896 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Herpelidae) from Kenya and the "rediscovery" of Boulengerula denhardti". Zootaxa. 4286 (4): 525–534. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4286.4.5. hdl:10141/622531. ISSN 1175-5334.
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