. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. WORM-LIKE AMPHIBIANS 371 very much like the Congo "Snake "; but the hind legs are totally absent, and external gills are con- spicuously present. The front legs, which are close behind the gills, are larger than in any other of the eel-like salamanders, and are of some slight use. The Siren Salamander, or Mud-"Eel,"' of our southeastern states, has four toes on its feet, three pairs of gill openings, a smooth skin of a dull black color, and when fully ad
. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. WORM-LIKE AMPHIBIANS 371 very much like the Congo "Snake "; but the hind legs are totally absent, and external gills are con- spicuously present. The front legs, which are close behind the gills, are larger than in any other of the eel-like salamanders, and are of some slight use. The Siren Salamander, or Mud-"Eel,"' of our southeastern states, has four toes on its feet, three pairs of gill openings, a smooth skin of a dull black color, and when fully adult a length of about 24 inches. The habitat and habits of this creature correspond closely to those of the Congo "Snake" of the southern rice-fields and swamps. THE ORDER OF WORM-LIKE AM- PHIBIANS. Apoda. Last and lowest in the Class Amphibia, we find a group of creatures that externally seem more like worms than vertebrates. It is inter- esting to know that there are true vertebrates so very worm-like that they have neither legs, feet, nor fins. Some, however, have overlapping scales, like fishes. Collectively, these animals are called Caecil- ians (pronounced se-sil'i-ans). There are forty ' Si'ren ia-cer-ti'na. species, inhabiting the lower half of Mexico, Central and South America, equatorial Africa, India, Burma and northern Australasia, but not the United States. They arc of burrowing hab- its, and their skulls exhibit a degree of solidity and strength cjuite in keeping with the necessi- ties of creatures which can burrow only with their. SIREN .SALAMANDER, OR MUD- EEL. heads. Many of them are totally blind—by the concealment of their eyes under the skin, or the maxillary bones. (Gadow.) The exact rela- tionships of the Apoda are yet to be determined Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resem
Size: 1792px × 1394px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory
