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The mountainous Western Ghats are part of a biodiversity hotspot and extend for about 1600 km, lying close and subparallel to the west coast of peninsular India. The region is a centre of diversity for amphibians, and recent preliminary work on some components of both caecilian (Gymnophiona) and frog (Anura) fauna is indicative of a high degree of local endemism. We investigated diversity in mitochondrial rRNA 12S and 16S sequences for long-tailed, unstriped Ichthyophis (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Ichthyophiidae) that potentially represent four taxonomically confused and poorly known endemic caecilian species. Data were analysed for18 individuals from along c.

A new species of Indian caecilian, Gegeneophis madhavai (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) is described from two specimens collected from the Western Ghats of southern Karnataka. This species is distinguished from all other species of the genus in having visible eyes, fewer than 100 primary annuli and more than 25 secondary annuli confined to the posterior of the body.

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