Despite being neither a snake nor penile, when a crew of engineers building a dam in the Amazon recently discovered an Atretochoana Eiselti, better known as a caecilian, many dubbed it the ‘penis snake’, and it’s easy to see why. Yet this phallic squirmer isn’t a snake at all but an extremely rare, limbless amphibian.
According to biologist Julian Tupan, six of the creatures were found when they were draining a portion of the Madeira River in Brazil as part of the dam building project.
Reptiles
Said he: “Of the six we collected, one died, three were released back into the wild and another two were kept for studies. Despite looking like snakes, they aren’t reptiles and are more closely related to salamanders and frogs. The Amazon is a box of surprises when it comes to reptiles and amphibians. There are still much more to be discovered.”
The creature is the largest known tetrapod to possess no lungs; it’s believed that it breathes through its skin, but it’s still unclear just how the amphibian manages to intake sufficient oxygen to survive.
Some of the media houses report that the discovery was made several months back but it was only announced this week after biologist deemed it was a new species. Before the discovery, the species was known only from two preserved specimens. In fact, before Atretochoana Eiselti was discovered in the warm, turbid waters of the Madeira River, it was theorised that they lived instead in the cold, oxygen-rich waters of an elevated region.
This discovery has offered biologists a unique opportunity to study the species. However, given that the species is likely rare, it’s a bit distressing that the species was discovered during the drainage of its habitat.
Away from the complex scientific classifications, the new Amazon River dweller is being called a “floppy snake”, but media outlets are having a little fun coming up with names like ‘penis snake’ and ‘man-aconda’.
Compiled by Peter Ndoria
