Caecilia

Caecilia, the type-genus of a family (Caeciliidae) of worm-like Amphibians, containing several genera and about 30 species, from the Neotropical, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions, and differing from all the rest of the class in possessing no limbs at any stage of their existence, though minute rudiments of posterior limbs have been observed, and in the external resemblance to the burrowing snakes and to the limbless lizards of the genus Anguis, whence they are sometimes incorrectly called "blindworms." But their Amphibian character is established by the character of the skull, and by the presence of gills in the immature forms. The tail is not distinguished from the body, and in the soft skin tiny scales are embedded, giving the body the appearance of being composed of a series of rings. The maximum length is something less than 2 feet; the mode of life is subterranean, and the diet consists of insects and worms.