Figure 1.

(a) Adult Schistometopum thomense eating an earthworm. The caecilian (yellow) is almost completely inside its burrow and has hold of a megascolecid earthworm, which has just been spun. As a result, the earthworm has been twisted around its long axis. (b) Photograph of the head of a preserved adult Boulengerula boulengeri with a single large prey item that was retrieved from its stomach. Note how the prey is completely torn, so that it can fit through the mouth of the caecilian. Our observations show that twisting can indeed be used to reduce larger prey.