Typhlonectidae, also known as aquatic caecilians or rubber eels, are a family of caecilians found east of the Andes in South America.

They are viviparous animals, giving birth to young that possess external gills. Of the five extant genera in the family, Atretochoana, Potamotyphlus and Typhlonectes are entirely aquatic, while Chthonerpeton and Nectocaecilia are semi-aquatic. Atretochoana reaches 100cm (39in) in length, but other species in the family range from 20to 60cm (7.9–23.6in). A sixth typhlonectid genus, Ymboirana, was recently described and is known exclusively from fossil material.

Taxonomy

  • San Mauro, Diego; David J. Gower; Oommen V. Oommen; Mark Wilkinson; Rafael Zardoya (November 2004). "Phylogeny of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and nuclear RAG1". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 33 (2): 413–427. Bibcode:. doi:. PMID.
  • San Mauro, Diego; Miguel Vences; Marina Alcobendas; Rafael Zardoya; Axel Meyer (May 2005). (PDF). American Naturalist. 165 (5): 590–599. doi:. PMID.
  • San Mauro, Diego; David J. Gower; Tim Massingham; Mark Wilkinson; Rafael Zardoya; James A. Cotton (August 2009). . Systematic Biology. 58 (4): 425–438. CiteSeerX. doi:. PMID.