The Second Species of Caecilian in China

<p indent="0mm">A new unstriped <italic>Ichthyophis</italic> is found in Yunnan, China, it is distinguished from its unstriped congeners in morphology by a combination of characters including HL (head length), the number of annuli (369–372), vertebrae (114), inner mandibular teeth (36) and premaxillary-maxillary (51). The new species is also distinguished from its closest neighbour congener by a significant genetic divergence which is greater than 5.8% in the mitochondrial <italic>COI</italic> gene and greater than 6.3% in the mitochondrial <italic>cyt-b</italic> gene. As the first unstriped <italic> Ichthyophis</italic> species found in China, it is also the second species of Caecilians (Amphibian: Gymnophiona) found in China. <?Pub Caret 25?>