Since 2006, researchers have been fascinated by the parenting care behavior of one of the amphibians: caecilian.
Unlike other well-known amphibians such as frogs and salamanders, a young caecilian is never observed without the presence of its mother.
Furthermore, the mothers feed their young ones using a unique skin-feeding approach.
Interestingly, it has been shown that mothers pass on important microbes from their skin to their offspring.
The Florida Museum of Natural History has found the “first direct evidence” of this distinct biological characteristic in caecilians.
“To our knowledge, this is the first published study of a caecilian microbiome,” said David Blackburn, the museum’s curator of herpetology, in an official release.
