Ooperipatellus

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Ooperipatellus
Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus 34495491.jpg
Ooperipatellus viridimaculatus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Onychophora
Family: Peripatopsidae
Genus: Ooperipatellus
Ruhberg, 1985
Species

See text

Ooperipatellus is a genus velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. [1] [2] These velvet worms are found in Australia and New Zealand. [2] Species in this genus are oviparous. [3] This genus was proposed by the German zoologist Hilke Ruhberg in 1985, with Ooperipatellus insignis designated as the type species. [4] This genus is notable as the only one in which velvet worms have no more than 14 pairs of legs. [5]

Contents

Description

Most species in this genus have 14 leg pairs, but O. nanus has only 13 pairs, [6] [7] the minimum number found in the phylum Onychophora. [8] Velvet worms in this genus are also among the smallest known, with adults often only 10 to 20 mm long. Species in this genus range in size from O. nanus , which can be only 5 mm long, to O. nickmayeri , which can reach 60 mm in length. [7]

Velvet worms in this genus have no modified head papillae, the males feature a cruciform genital opening (gonopore), and the females feature an ovipositor. [5] [7] This genus contains all oviparous velvet worm species with 13 or 14 leg pairs and no modified head structures (e.g., sclerotized head organs). [7] Species in this genus also feature feet with three distal papillae (one anterior, one median, and one posterior), but no basal papillae. [4] [5] [9] [7]

Phylogeny

In spite of a disjoint geographic distribution across New Zealand, Tasmania, and Southern Australia, morphological and molecular data indicate that this genus is a monophyletic group. Molecular studies indicate that this clade includes two subclades, one containing species in New Zealand and the other containing species in both Tasmania and mainland Australia. The molecular evidence suggests that the New Zealand lineage of Ooperipatellus diverged from Australian lineage of Ooperipatellus about 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous epoch. Paleogeographic evidence indicates that glacial events severed the land connection between Tasmania and mainland Australia more recently than rifting broke the land connection between Australia and New Zealand, which would be consistent with the phylogenetic tree that emerges from molecular studies of this genus. [7]

Species and distribution

The genus contains the following nine species: [1] [2]

Authorities once considered Ooperipatellus cryptusJackson & Taylor, 1995 a nomen dubium. [10] This designation, however, has since been revoked. [2]

Four of these species (O. cryptus, O. decoratus, O. nickmayeri, and O. spenceri) are found in Tasmania. Three (O. duwilensis, O. insignis, and O. parvus) are found on the mainland of Australia. Two (O. nanus and O. viridimaculatus) are found in New Zealand. [2] [7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Australian Faunal Directory". Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Oliveira, Ivo de Sena (2023-11-16). "An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (1184): 133–260. Bibcode:2023ZooK.1184..133O. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1184.107286 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   10680090 . PMID   38023768.
  3. ↑ Baker, Caitlin M; Buckman-Young, Rebecca S; Costa, Cristiano S; Giribet, Gonzalo (2021-12-09). Xia, Xuhua (ed.). "Phylogenomic Analysis of Velvet Worms (Onychophora) Uncovers an Evolutionary Radiation in the Neotropics". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 38 (12): 5391–5404. doi:10.1093/molbev/msab251. ISSN   1537-1719. PMC   8662635 . PMID   34427671.
  4. 1 2 Ruhberg, Hilke (1985). Die Peripatopsidae (Onychophora): Systematik, Ökologie, Chorologie und phylogenetische Aspekte. Zoologica (in German). Stuttgart: Schweizerbart. pp. 126–127. ISBN   978-3-510-55023-4.
  5. 1 2 3 Reid, A. L. (1996). "Review of the Peripatopsidae (Onychophora) in Australia, with comments on peripatopsid relationships" . Invertebrate Systematics. 10 (4): 663–936 [819–821]. doi:10.1071/it9960663. ISSN   1447-2600.
  6. ↑ Tait, N.N.; Briscoe, D.A. (1995-05-01). "Genetic differentiation within New Zealand Onychophora and their relationships to the Australian fauna" . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 114 (1): 103–113. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1995.tb00115.x. ISSN   0024-4082.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Oliveira, Ivo de Sena; Mayer, Georg (2017-06-01). "A new giant egg-laying onychophoran (Peripatopsidae) reveals evolutionary and biogeographical aspects of Australian velvet worms" . Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 17 (2): 375–391. Bibcode:2017ODivE..17..375O. doi:10.1007/s13127-016-0321-3. ISSN   1618-1077. S2CID   256006350.
  8. ↑ Allwood, Julia; Gleeson, Dianne; Mayer, Georg; Daniels, Savel; Beggs, Jacqueline R.; Buckley, Thomas R. (2010). "Support for vicariant origins of the New Zealand Onychophora" . Journal of Biogeography. 37 (4): 669–681. Bibcode:2010JBiog..37..669A. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02233.x. S2CID   55395265.
  9. ↑ Brockmann, Claudia (2007). Die oviparen Peripatopsidae Tasmaniens (Onychophora): Revision von Ooperipatellus und Bemerkungen zur Phylogenie [Oviparous Peripatopsidae of Tasmania (Onychophora): Revision of Ooperipatellus and phylogenetic considerations] (Thesis) (in German). Hamburg: Universität Hamburg. pp. 82–84.
  10. ↑ Oliveira; Read; Mayer (2012). "A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (211): 1–70. Bibcode:2012ZooK..211....1O. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.211.3463 . PMC   3426840 . PMID   22930648 . Retrieved 16 July 2016.


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