Bizarre skin-eating amphibians haven’t any legs resulting from snake-like mutation

Worm-like amphibians often called caecilians could have misplaced their legs due to the identical genetic tweaks that snakes have.

An evaluation of the amphibians’ genomes means that caecilians and snakes – separated by lots of of thousands and thousands of years of evolution – converged on the identical mutations when ditching their limbs. The findings present insights into the genetic underpinnings of the evolution of limblessness.

The 200-some species of caecilian are completely limbless, and dwell secretive lives in tropical soils or waterways. They’ve small or nonexistent eyes and …