This seminar was by Simon Maddock and focused on the study he had been doing in the Seychelles. These animals are known as ‘naked snakes’ and are a much understudied species.
He began his talk discussing the difficulties when trying to describe and therefore classify the organisms. It is also a struggle to identify new species. This is because of the lack of external features.
They are generally brown and have overlapping scales. Surprisingly have teeth, they have a varied diet but typically they are carnivores
Simon talked about how he surveyed these organisms. The principal way was to dig, however pit fall traps and aquatic traps were also used.
The Seychelles
The Seychelles are a cluster of islands that have been isolated for many years, as a result many of the species that inhabit the islands are endemic to the area.
Generally there aren’t that many studies on caecilians, however as they are abundant in the islands, most of the previous studies have taken place in the Seychelles
Key pressures on Seychelles caecilians include: habitat loss, climate change, pollution and disease, such as the fungal infection chytrid fungi
Although the chytrid fungal diseases has not reached the Seychelles yet, it is likely to infect the islands in the future
New species discovered
Hypogeophis pti
This species is thought be the smallest in the world and is found I the dry plam forests of the islands
Hypogeophis montanus
This species is found in the mountainous habitat of the islands, however they are majorly threatened by climate change as there is no more room for the species to move up the mountain
Conservation
These species are both endangered and are in need of conservation efforts to avoid extinction.
Long term monitoring and education of the locals in conservational efforts for these organisms are taking place
Individual thoughts and opinions
I found this talk very interesting as it was a field that I knew near to nothing about. To learn more about caecilians and learn about the conservational efforts set in place to protect them is something I am interested in.
The idea that these species could be extinct in the very near future is a very worrying idea.
Oliver Stoakes Zoology 