Thompson's caecilian, Tatama National Park, Colombia

A unusual find at night on the forest floor of Tatama National Park, Colombia. This is endemic to Colombia and the largest known caecilian in the world, at around 1.5m in length. This one definitely was around that size.
They spent most of their lives below the soil yet occasionally come out and crawl around in snake-like movements, despite being fully blind.

They are very fast and impossibly strong. Our guide could not hold on to it even with two hands. They even have reinforced skulls to help digg into hard soil.

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Ferdy Christant

Lion

Update: I had this identified as Caecilia nigricans, but our guide suggests Caecilia thompsoni. I checked reference and this makes more sense in both appearance and distribution. And that makes it an even more special spotting for me, as this one is endemic, as well as the largest known caecilian in the world. Posted 7 years ago

The Thompson's caecilian

"Caecilia thompsoni", commonly called Thompson's caecilian is a species of amphibian in the Caeciliidae family. It is endemic to Colombia. It is the largest of the worm-like caecilians and reaches a length of 1.5 m and can weigh up to about 1 kg.

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Similar species: Caecilians

Species identified by Ferdy Christant