Kingdom Animalia Class Amphibia Family Uraeotyphlidae | Phylum Chordata Order Gymnophiona Genus Uraeotyphlus | |
The Bonnacord caecilian, Uraeotyphlus oommeni, is a new species of Uraeotyphlus, described on the basis of a single, distinctive specimen from the Western Ghats of southern Kerala, India. This species is most similar to U. malabaricus (Beddome) in that it lacks a clear differentiation between the primary annuli and their higher-order (secondary or tertiary) subdivision. The pattern of annulation among species of Uraeotyphlus falls into two clear types based on the differentiation of primary and higher-order annuli, and the number of annular divisions per vertebra and whether this varies along the body. This difference is reflected in the recognition of U. oxyurus group (U. interruptus, U. menoni, U. narayani, U. oxyurus) and the U. malabaricus group (U. malabaricus and U. oommeni) species.