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Chikilidae: A new family of legless amphibians
A team of scientists led by Dr. SD Biju of University of Delhi (http://www.frogindia.org/) has discovered an entirely NEW FAMILY of legless amphibians from India and named it Chikilidae. Their closest relatives are found around 7,000 miles away in Africa highlighting ancient biogeographical links between India and Africa. Chikilids live exclusively under the soil and hence the common name tailless burrowing caecilians. This rare find is a result of over 2000 person hours of digging in more than 250 localities in Northeast India.
Chikilids show interesting parental care: mother lays transparent eggs and she guards her egg clutch constantly without feeding for up to 70 days.
