Caecilians, the strange underground amphibians, are known to let their babies eat their skin. But the full benefits of this practice are only now becoming clear.Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/herphighlightsMerch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/herphighlights/shopFull reference list available here: http://www.herphighlights.podbean.comMain Paper References:Kouete MT, Bletz MC, LaBumbard BC, Woodhams DC, Blackburn DC. 2023. Parental care contributes to vertical transmission of microbes in a skin-feeding and direct-developing caecilian. Animal Microbiome Species of the Bi-Week:Li S-Z, Liu J, Ke X-C, Cheng G, Wang B. 2024. A new species of Amolops (Amphibia, Anura, Ranidae) from Guizhou Province, China. ZooKeys Other Mentioned Papers/Studies:Starck, J. M., Schrenk, F., Schröder, S., & Pees, M. (2022). Malformations of the sacculus and the semicircular canals in spider morph pythons. Plos one, 17(8), e0262788.Editing and Music:Podcast edited by Emmy – https://www.fiverr.com/emmyk10 Intro/outro – Treehouse by Ed NelsonSpecies Bi-week theme – Michael TimothyOther Music – The Passion HiFi, https://www.thepassionhifi.com