Scientists have discovered a new family of legless amphibians commonly known as Caecilians (one of the three groups of amphibia). This rare new family of tailless burrowing “caecilians” was discovered following unprecedented fieldwork efforts of soil-digging surveys in about 250 localities spread over five years (2006-2010) in parts of Northeast India including Nagaland. The fieldwork is hailed as the most extensive systematic programme of dedicated caecilian surveys ever attempted. The findings have been published in a paper titled “Discovery of a new family of amphibians from Northeast India with ancient links to Africa” in the current issue of Proceedings of Royal Society of London B. Prof. SD Biju of University of Delhi discovered the new family with co-researchers from The Natural History Museum, London and Vrije University, Brussels.
This breed of amphibian named “Chikilidae” is also found in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim and Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Scientists analyzed the specimens’ DNA to confirm that it is an entirely new family and named the new family as Chikilidae - derived from Garo language in Meghalaya.
