---
title: "What the sources say about the Ringed Caecilian | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "49 claims from the Ringed Caecilian profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Ringed Caecilian (*Siphonops annulatus*)

> 49 claims from the Ringed Caecilian profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Ringed Caecilian](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/ringed-caecilian/)

## Siphonops annulatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T59593A180649042.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2023-1.rlts.t59593a180649042.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: stats.conservationStatus; GBIF copy of the Red List) |
| The IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: body; assessment year dropped: the cached GBIF copy gives the category only, the DOI is the 2023-1 edition) |

## Wilkinson et al. (2008). One hundred million years of skin feeding? Extended parental care in a Neotropical caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Biology Letters.

https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0217

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Biologists call this maternal dermatophagy, which just means skin eating by offspring. | Maternal dermatophagy, the eating of maternal skin by offspring |
| Both sides are specialised: the mother's skin changes, and the hatchlings carry "fetal" teeth | characterized by the same syndrome of maternal and offspring specializations |
| Researchers think this kind of skin feeding has probably persisted in several caecilian lineages for more than 100 million years. | skin feeding is an ancient form of parental care in caecilians, which has probably persisted in multiple lineages for more than 100 Myr |

## Mailho-Fontana et al. (2024). Milk provisioning in oviparous caecilian amphibians. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi5379

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| and drink milk from her vent | S. annulatus babies ingested milk released through the maternal vent (note: tagline) |
| Mothers feed hatchlings with their own skin and a lipid-rich milk released from the vent | females of the egg-laying caecilian amphibian Siphonops annulatus provide similarly lipid-rich milk to altricial hatchlings during parental care (note: stats.superpower) |
| For about two months the young drink milk that the mother lets out through her vent | We observed that for 2 months, S. annulatus babies ingested milk released through the maternal vent seemingly in response to tactile and acoustic stimulation by the babies. |
| The milk is mostly lipids and carbohydrates. | The milk, composed mainly of lipids and carbohydrates |
| Mothers of this egg-laying amphibian release a fatty milk through the vent for about two months, and the hatchlings swallow it. | for 2 months, S. annulatus babies ingested milk released through the maternal vent |
| enlarged glands lining the mother's oviduct | originates from the maternal oviduct epithelium's hypertrophied glands |
| apparently prompted by the babies touching her and making sounds | seemingly in response to tactile and acoustic stimulation by the babies |
| Ringed caecilian babies do. | S. annulatus babies ingested milk released through the maternal vent |
| The milk is mostly lipids and carbohydrates | The milk, composed mainly of lipids and carbohydrates (note: faq 1) |

## Jared et al. (2018). Life history and reproduction of the neotropical caecilian Siphonops annulatus (Amphibia, Gymnophiona, Siphonopidae), with special emphasis on parental care. Acta Zoologica.

https://doi.org/10.1111/azo.12254

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| whose newborns eat their mother's skin | the altricial young feed on the mother's specially modified skin (maternal dermatophagy) (note: tagline) |
| The hatchlings are altricial, meaning helpless at birth, and they feed on her specially modified skin. | the altricial young feed on the mother's specially modified skin (maternal dermatophagy) |
| In the studied population, pairs mate from late August to early October, and females lay eggs in November and December, at the peak of the rains. | In the studied population, mating occurs between the end of August and beginning of October, and oviposition between November and December, when rainfall peaks |
| They hatch around the turn of the year. | Egg hatching occurs between the end of December and beginning of January. |
| From laying to independent young, the mother's care lasts about three months. | The complete cycle of maternal care, from oviposition to independent, self‐sufficient offspring lasts about 3 months. |
| A ringed caecilian's babies dine on their mother. | the altricial young feed on the mother's specially modified skin (maternal dermatophagy) (note: rhetorical lead; the next sentence says it is her skin) |

## Jared et al. (2018). Skin gland concentrations adapted to different evolutionary pressures in the head and posterior regions of the caecilian Siphonops annulatus. Scientific Reports.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-22005-5

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| about 40 cm long | Eight adult Siphonops annulatus (375–452 mm, mean 410 ± SD 25 mm) (note: tagline; mean 410 mm rounded to about 40 cm) |
| Eight adults collected in Bahia, Brazil measured 375 to 452 millimetres, averaging 410. | Eight adult Siphonops annulatus (375–452 mm, mean 410 ± SD 25 mm) were collected in Ilhéus (BA) (note: Ilhéus is in Bahia (hand knowledge; the paper's own text says 'State of Bahia' for the cacao site)) |
| that collagen anchors the skin into tiny pits in the skull bones | extend into the pits of the skull anchoring the skin to the skull |
| The authors suggest the glands, together with the head's shape, lubricate the body and help it push into soil. | The anterior macrogland of mucous glands, rich in mucous/lipid secretion, in conjunction with the funnel-shaped head, may act to lubricate the body and penetrate the soil |
| Its tunnels are always coated in a shiny, slippery film. | the tunnels built by S. annulatus are always lined with a shiny and slippery secretion |
| Near the vent the poison glands are much enlarged, about 2.2 millimetres tall, and fill practically the whole dermis | toward the cloacal region, the poison glands are much enlarged (about 2.2 mm in height), occupying practically the entire volume of the dermis |
| The blunt rear end may serve in chemical defence, or by blocking a tunnel against invaders. | The blunt posterior end bearing an internalized macrogland of poison glands in the dermis may act in chemical defense and/or by blocking invasion of tunnels. |
| Earlier experiments showed the skin secretions, from the head and from the rear, were toxic to a toad, a frog, a rat and even the caecilian itself. | Sawaya 23 experimentally demonstrated the poison of this species, both the mucous (extracted from the head) and the granular (extracted from the posterior region), is toxic to the caecilian itself, the toad ( Rhinella icterica ), the frog ( Leptodactylus ocellatus ) and the rat |
| Eight adults collected in Bahia, Brazil ranged from 375 to 452 mm and averaged 410 mm | Eight adult Siphonops annulatus (375–452 mm, mean 410 ± SD 25 mm) |
| A legless burrower | Caecilians are limbless amphibians comprising the Order Gymnophiona (note: tagline; order-wide trait, holds for the species) |
| In the head region, enlarged mucous glands | we observed a concentration of enlarged mucous glands in the head region |
| which make slippery goo | the lubricant mucous/lipid secretion produced by the mucous glands is spread over the body |
| sit inside honeycomb walls of collagen | The skin glands in these regions are each surrounded by collagen walls forming a honeycomb-like structure. |
| It lives underground, and its funnel-shaped head forces a way through the soil. | While the funnel-form head mechanically opens the way through the soil |
| The poison is packed into the rear end. | In the posterior region of the body a similar concentration is made up of enlarged poison glands. |
| The ringed caecilian forces its way through soil head first, using a funnel-shaped head as a digging tool | While the funnel-form head mechanically opens the way through the soil (note: vibe.reason) |

## Mauricio et al. (2021). Morphology of the Cutaneous Poison and Mucous Glands in Amphibians with Particular Emphasis on Caecilians (Siphonops annulatus). Toxins.

https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13110779

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moist soil and leaf litter across South America east of the Andes | S. annulatus remains in the soil, under the thick and moist leaf litter covering the forest floor (note: stats.habitat; observed at the Bahia cacao-plantation study site) |
| Earthworms and ground meat, as fed in captivity | fed weekly with earthworms and ground beef or chicken (note: stats.diet) |
| In captivity, researchers fed it weekly on earthworms and ground beef or chicken. | fed weekly with earthworms and ground beef or chicken |

## Siphonops annulatus Mikan 1820 (taxonomic treatment from Maciel and Hoogmoed 2011, Zootaxa 2984). Biodiversity Literature Repository, Plazi.

https://zenodo.org/records/5635419

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Moist soil and leaf litter across South America east of the Andes | Cis-Andean South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela) (note: stats.habitat and body; cis-Andean glossed as east of the Andes) |
| the hatchlings carry "fetal" teeth in three rows on the lower jaw | "Fetal" teeth in hatchlings in three rows on lower jaw |
| a body 17 to 26 times longer than wide | TL 17-26 times BW |
| with 78 to 98 ring-shaped grooves called annuli | Annuli 78-98 (Taylor, 1973). Annular grooves completely encircling body |
| A 2011 taxonomic study called it the caecilian with the largest reported distribution | The caecilian with the largest reported distribution (note: year is the Zootaxa 2984 publication year (2011), named in the reference title) |
| In Brazil it turns up in the Caatinga, Atlantic forest, Cerrado and Amazonia. | In Brazil this species is recorded from Caatinga (Freitas & Silva, 2007), Atlantic forest (Taylor, 1968; M.S. Hoogmoed, pers. obs.), Cerrado, and from Amazonia |
| Its moisture needs are lower than those of many other caecilians | its moisture requirements are less than those of many other caecilians |
| it has been found under rotting oil palm trunks even in grazed pastures | under decomposing trunks of African oil palms, even in grazed pastures |
| Between 78 and 98, by one species description's count. | Annuli 78-98 (Taylor, 1973) |
| The ring-shaped grooves wrap right around the body, except for three or four near the vent. | Annular grooves completely encircling body, except for three or four near vent |