A NEW GENUS OF LUNGLESS TETRAPOD - A RADICALLY DIVERGENT CAECILIAN (AMPHIBIA, GYMNOPHIONA)

Lunglessness is rare in the Tetrapoda and previously recorded only in salamanders (Amphibia: Caudata). Here we report lunglessness in anothe r group of tetrapods, the poorly known tropical caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona). Typhlonectes eiselti is a lungless, aquatic caecilian fr om South America known only from the single holotype specimen, NMW 914 4 (Vienna Museum of Natural History). At a total length of 725 mm, NMW 9144 is by far the largest known lungless tetrapod. It also has a sta rtling array of other radically divergent morphological features, many unique, and some correlated with lunglessness including: sealed choan ae (paired internal nostrils); complete absence of pulmonary blood ves sels; a repatterned skull with post-occipital jaw articulation; and a novel cranial muscle associated with an elongate and redirected stapes . This remarkable combination of highly derived characters sets Typhlo nectes eiselti apart from all other caecilians and places it on a nove l evolutionary trajectory. A new genus is described to accommodate thi s form.