Definition of caecilian Caecilian

cae•cil•i•an

We found 6 definitions of caecilian from 5 different sources.

What does caecilian mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: caecilians
caecilian - any of the small slender limbless burrowing wormlike amphibians of the order Gymnophiona; inhabit moist soil in tropical regions
		blindworm
		amphibian cold-blooded vertebrate typically living on land but breeding in water; aquatic larvae undergo metamorphosis into adult form
		caeciliadae, caeciliidae, family caeciliadae, family caeciliidae coextensive with the order Gymnophiona: legless amphibians
Adjective
caecilian - of or relating to or belonging to the family Caeciliidae

= synonym
= antonym
= related word

Wiktionary

caecilian (Noun)
Any of a group of burrowing amphibians order Gymnophiona or Apoda that resemble earthworms or snakes.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

caecilian (n.)
A limbless amphibian belonging to the order Caeciliae or Ophimorpha. See Ophiomorpha.

Wikipedia

The Caecilians are an order (Gymnophiona or Apoda) of amphibians. Most of them look like either earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground. For this reason, they are the least explored order of amphibians. As of 2007, they are widely unknown

Anatomy.

Caecilians completely lack limbs. For this reason, the smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species with lengths up to 1.5 m are similar to snakes. The tail is short and the cloaca is near the end of the body. Their skin is smooth and usually dark in colour. Some species have colorful skins, though. Inside the skin are calcite scales. This suggests that they may be related to the fossil Stegocephalia.Scientists believe that the scales are a secondary development. If this was the case, they would not directly have been inherited from Stegocephalia. Due to their underground life the eyes are small. Skin often covers them, to protect them. This has led to the idea that they are blind, which is not the case. Because of the skin cover, their "seeing" is limited to simple dark-light perception. They can tell the difference between dark and light. All Caecilians have two tentacles at their head. The tentacles are probably used for a second smelling capability in addition to the normal sense of smell based in the nose.

Most Caecilians have lungs. So far, only one species named "Atretochoana eiselti" is known that does not have lungs. As of 2007, there was only one sample of this species. That sample had been