Caecilia pachynema Günther, 1859

Class: Amphibia > Order: Gymnophiona > Family: Caeciliidae > Genus: Caecilia > Species: Caecilia pachynema

Coecilia pachynema Günther, 1859, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1859: 417. Holotype: BMNH 1946.9.6.83 (formerly 1860.6.16.87), according to Taylor, 1968, Caecilians of the World: 425. Type locality: "Western Ecuador".

Caecilia pachynemaCope, 1868, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 20: 118; Peters, 1880 "1879", Monatsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1879: 935.

Common Names

Giant Caecilian (Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: xxxi)

Ilulo Gigante (Spanish: Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: xxxi).

Intac Caecilian (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 23).

Distribution

Pacific drainage systems of western Ecuador (Chimborazo, Azuay, El Oro, and Loja provinces), 1180–1950 m elevation.

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Ecuador

Endemic: Ecuador

Comment

Lynch, 2000 "1999", Rev. Acad. Colomb. Cienc. Exact. Fis. Nat., 23: 327, suggested that the population from Antioquia in Colombia represents a different species (now Caecilia goweri) than Caecilia pachynema from Ecuador. Taylor and Peters, 1974, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 50: 339–340, commented on the original description and the range. Coloma and Duellman, 2025, Amph. Ecuador. Vol. 4: 336–337, provided an account, with photographs, which summarized identification, morphology, systematics, natural history, distribution (including a dot map for Ecuador), and conservation.

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