Work

Digest: Life underground and sensory adaptations in caecilians (Gymnophiona)

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Do caecilians retain some degree of vision? Navarrete Méndez et al. (2025) used an integrative approach to show that the long-wavelength-sensitive (LWS) opsin gene is present and that retinal morphology remains intact across all eight caecilian families investigated. This finding suggests that caecilians maintain some visual capacity, likely enabling day-night or color discrimination. More broadly, this study highlights key aspects of sensory adaptation in subterranean tetrapods.

Source: Evolution

DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpaf234

Authors: Quentin Martinez, Cécile Molinier

Institutions: Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Max Planck Institute for Biology

Language: English

Topic: Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy

Subfield: Paleontology

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Award: G7784617322