Microcaecilia iwokramae (Wake & Donnelly, 2010)

Wilkinson, Mark, Kok, Philippe J. R., Ahmed, Farah & Gower, David J., 2014, Caecilita Wake & Donnelly, 2010 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) is not lungless: implications for taxonomy and for understanding the evolution of lunglessness, Zootaxa 3779 (3), pp. 383-388 : 386

Microcaecilia iwokramae ( Wake & Donnelly, 2010) new combination

Holotype. Center for Biological Diversity, University of Guyana ( CSBD) reported as number HA 1500, bearing tag MAD 2018 .

Diagnosis. A Microcaecilia with fewer secondary annuli than all other Microcaecilia except M. taylori and M. dermatophaga Wilkinson et al., 2013 ; differs from M. dermatophaga in having a shorter tooth row on the paired nasopremaxillary bones with fewer (<12 vs>13) teeth in total; differs from most M. taylori specimens in lacking a dorsal transverse groove on the first nuchal collar and in usually having fewer primary annuli (<114 vs. 113–130).

Remarks. All the new specimens were collected by digging soil with hoes, particularly under rotting wood or leaf litter or between the buttress roots of trees. We collected 13 specimens (11 subsequently preserved) of Microcaecilia iwokramae in an estimated total of approximately 56 person hours of digging across altitudes of c. 100– 850 m. All specimens were swabbed and found to be negative in a PCR-assay for the presence of chytrid ( Gower et al., 2013). These findings suggests that there is a healthy population of M. iwokramae and that the species is reasonably common in the vicinity of the type locality. Wilkinson et al. (2013) recently provided a key to the species of Microcaecilia and a generic diagnosis that included reference to the presence of lungs (to distinguish Microcaecilia from Caecilita ) that is no longer necessary.