THE female caecilian’s skin becomes thicker and more nutrient-rich when she gives birth.
Mum’s young tears off strips of her skin and eat it.
Notes the BBC: It took several attempts to capture the footage; the caecilian babies would only eat their mother’s skin for about 10 minutes, once every three days, and often at night.
The Boulengerula taitanus is found in the Taita Hills of south-eastern Kenya. It lives underground. It can grow up to 30cm long.
TV can still shock…
Posted: 9th, February 2008 | In: Strange But True Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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February 9th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I’m completely grossed out - and I own a pet woodlouse. (I accidentally poured hot water on him when he had fallen into the sink and I felt sorry for him and now he lives on a tiny log in the living room and trots up every morning to munch lettuce. He’s called Hermes).