Koh Tao Island Caecilian

The Yunnan caecilian is a subterranean, worm-shaped amphibian and the only member of the order Gymnophiona recorded from China. It was discovered in Yunnan in 1976, described as a distinct species using material from Guangxi in 1984 and subsequently recorded in Guangdong. Verified research samples also came from northern Vietnam, while occurrences have been reported from Laos and Thailand. (Wang et al. 2015)

Its life cycle includes an aquatic larval period lasting about two years, followed by a largely subterranean post-metamorphic stage that rarely enters water. Wet, loose soil in rice paddies and some other agricultural environments can provide suitable habitat. Population-genetic work found marked differentiation among sampled areas and indicated that large river systems, particularly the Red River, can restrict gene flow between populations. (Wang et al. 2015)