Dermophis mexicanus
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Dermophis mexicanus, also known commonly as the Mexican burrowing caecilian, the Mexican caecilian, and locally as the tapalcua or tepelcua, is a species of limbless amphibian in the family Dermophiidae. The species is native to Mexico and Central America, where it burrows under leaf litter and plant debris.
The adult Mexican burrowing caecilian grows to a total length (tail included) of 30 to 50 cm (12 to 20 in). In general appearance, it resembles a large earthworm. Around a hundred transverse annular folds in the skin give the appearance of segments. The head has a pointed snout, a single row of teeth in the lower jaw, and two vestigial eyes covered with skin, with a pair of protrusible tentacles between the eyes and the nostrils. The body is elongated and there are no limbs. The upper surface is dark grey and the under surface pale grey with darker markings on the annuli.
The Mexican burrowing caecilian is found in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and possibly Belize, mostly on the Atlantic side, but also in some isolated parts of the Pacific slope. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests,... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
No species of the same family or order lives in San Salvador, so these are its closest relatives here: other amphibians.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Caecilian sighting in San Salvador on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Mexican Caecilian in San Salvador on a given day, against under 5% in February, April, September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mexican Caecilian sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only San Salvador, in our data
San Salvador is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mexican Caecilian sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mexican Caecilian is recorded against all the amphibians logged in San Salvador (14 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
