Schendyla antici

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Schendyla antici
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Schendylidae
Genus: Schendyla
Species:
S. antici
Binomial name
Schendyla antici
Stojanović, Ševićin & Makarov, 2024

Schendyla antici is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. [1] This species is notable as one of only six species in the order Geophilomorpha to feature centipedes with only 29 pairs of legs, which is also the minimum number recorded in the genus Schendyla . No other species in this genus features so few legs. [2]

Contents

Discovery

This species was first described by three biologists from the University of Belgrade (Dalibor Z Stojanović, Mirko Ševićin, and Slobodan E Makarov) in 2024, based on specimens extracted from soil samples from Medvednik mountain in western Serbia. These specimens include not only a male holotype collected in 2011 and fourteen paratypes (five males and nine females) collected in 2021 but also seven more specimens (two males, five females, and three juvenile females) collected in 2023. The specific name of S. antici honors the Serbian myriapodologiist Dragan Antić, who discovered the first specimen and participated in the collection of most of the others. [2]

Description

This species exhibits sexual dimorphism in leg number: All eight male specimens have 29 pairs of legs, and all seventeen female specimens have 31 leg pairs. This species is whitish with a pale yellowish color on parts of the head, antennae, mouthparts, forcipular segment, and claws of the walking legs. The claws of the second maxillae are moderately elongated without spines or filaments. Like other centipedes in the genus Schendyla, this species features two pores near the sternite on the basal element of each of the ultimate legs. [2] [3] [4]

The adult specimens range from 4.5 mm to 8.0 mm in length, and the juvenile female specimens measure about 4 mm long. The adult females (with an average length of 6.5 mm) tend to be larger than the adult males (with an average length of 5.8 mm long). These centipedes are so small that the original description refers to S. antici as a "dwarf" species. [2]

Diagnostic features of this species include not only its small size and modest number of legs but also a distinctive set of other traits. These traits include minute denticles on the first article of the forcipule, a rudimentary claw on the ultimate legs, and the absence of ventral pore-fields on the sternites. [2] [3] These features distinguish S. antici from other species of the genus Schendyla.

For example, only three species in this genus approach S. antici in terms of leg number: S. verneri (with 31 pairs of legs), [5] S. walachica (with 33 or 35 leg pairs in each sex), and S. armata (with as few as 33 pairs in females and 35 in males). The species S. verneri is small (9 mm to 10 mm in length) and has small denticles on the first article of the forcipule but also has some scattered pores on the anterior sternites and no claws on the ultimate legs. The species S. walachica has rudimentary claws on its ultimate legs but also features pore-fields on some sternites, has no denticles on the first article of the forcipule, and is twice as long as S. antici. Finally, S. armata is small (5 mm to 11 mm in length) and has rudimentary claws on its ultimate legs and no sternal pore-fields but also features denticles on the first article of the forcipule that are distinctly robust rather than small. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Geophilus arenarius is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is found in Algeria. As part of the carpophagus species-complex, this species is closely related to both G. carpophagus and G. easoni.

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Schendylops ramirezi is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is notable as the species with the fewest legs recorded in the order Geophilomorpha for each sex. This species is also the smallest in the genus Schendylops, reaching only 7 mm (0.28 in) in length.

Dinogeophilus is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Schendylidae. This genus contains only two species, Dinogeophilus pauropus and D. oligopodus, which range from 4.5 to 5.5 mm in length. These species are notable as the smallest not only in the order Geophilomorpha but also in any epimorphic order of centipedes. The species D. oligopodus is also notable as one of only six species of soil centipedes to feature only 29 pairs of legs and one of only two species to include females with only 29 pairs, the minimum number recorded for females in the order Geophilomorpha.

Mecophilus is a genus of soil centipedes in the subfamily Aphilodontinae, a clade formerly known as the family Aphilodontidae but now deemed a subfamily within the family Geophilidae. The species in this genus are among the smallest centipedes in the order Geophilomorpha, reaching only 8 mm in length. This genus is also notable for featuring the fewest legs in the subfamily Aphilodontinae. The species in this genus are found in the Atlantic Forest in south and southeastern Brazil.

Mecistocephalus evansi is a species of soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae. This centipede is notable for featuring 51 pairs of legs rather than the 49 leg pairs usually observed in the genus Mecistocephalus. This species was first described by the French myriapodologist Henry W. Brolemann in 1922. He based the original description of this species on a single female specimen found in the Maysan governorate on the Tigris river in Iraq.

Krateraspis sselivanovi is a species of soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae. This centipede is found in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This species is notable for featuring 53 leg pairs without any intraspecific variation. This number of legs is rarely observed in the family Mecistocephalidae and also appears to be the maximum number evidently fixed by species in the class Chilopoda.

Dinogeophilus oligopodus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede ranges from 4.5 to 5.5 mm in length, the smallest size recorded not only in the order Geophilomorpha but also in any epimorphic order of centipedes. This species is also notable as one of only six species in the order Geophilomorpha to feature only 29 pairs of legs and one of only two species to include females with only 29 pairs, the minimum number recorded for females in this order.

Mecophilus tupiniquim is a species of soil centipede in the subfamily Aphilodontinae, a clade formerly known as the family Aphilodontidae but now deemed a subfamily within the family Geophilidae. This centipede is notable for its small size and modest number of legs. This species is found in Brazil.

Escaryus molodovae is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is found on Sakhalin island in the Russian Far East. This species is notable for its small size, reaching only 14 mm in length.

Escaryus polygonatus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is found in the Maritime territory of the Russian Far East. This species was first described in 1973 by the Russian myriapodologist Lidia P. Titova.

Escaryus vitimicus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is found in the Republic of Buryatia in the Russian Far East. This species features 37 pairs of legs in each sex and can reach 27 mm in length.

Alloschizotaenia bipora is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae. This centipede is found in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This species was first described in 1952 by the Austrian myriapodologist Carl Attems.

Arctogeophilus inopinatus is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophildae. This centipede is found in western and central France and may also be present in Luxembourg. This species is small, measuring only 18 mm in length, and can have either 39 or 41 pairs of legs.

Schendyla dentata is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is widespread in western Europe. This species is notable not only for its small size, reaching only 12 mm in length, but also for the absence of males in all samples collected. This absence of males suggests that this species reproduces through parthenogenesis.

Escaryus hirsutus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is found on Sakhalin island in the Russian Far East. This species was first described in 1973 by the Russian myriapodologist Lidia P. Titova.

Escaryus dentatus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. This centipede is found in the Maritime territory of the Russian Far East. This species was first described in 1973 by the Russian myriapodologist Lidia P. Titova.

Escaryus kirgizicus is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae. As the species name suggests, this centipede is found in Kyrgyzstan. This species is known only from high mountains and is notable for being found at one of the highest altitudes recorded for any centipede in the order Geophilomorpha in Central Asia.

References

  1. ↑ "Schendyla antici Stojanovic 2024, new species - Plazi TreatmentBank". treatment.plazi.org. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stojanović, Dalibor Z.; Šević, Mirko; Makarov, Slobodan E. (2024-03-07). "A new dwarf schendylid centipede (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Schendylidae) with a low number of legs from Serbia, Balkan Peninsula". Zootaxa. 5419 (3): 401–418. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5419.3.5. ISSN   1175-5334. PMID   38480317.
  3. 1 2 Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory; Lewis, John; Minelli, Alessandro; Pereira, Luis; Shelley, Rowland; Zapparoli, Marzio (2010-11-18). "A common terminology for the external anatomy of centipedes (Chilopoda)". ZooKeys (69): 17–51. Bibcode:2010ZooK...69...17B. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.69.737 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3088443 . PMID   21594038.
  4. ↑ Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview". In Minelli, Alessandro (ed.). The Myriapoda. Volume 1. Leiden: Brill. pp. 363–443 [439]. ISBN   978-90-04-18826-6. OCLC   812207443.
  5. ↑ Folkmanova, B.; Dobroruka, L.J. (1960). "Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Chilopoda der UdSSR". Zoologicheskii Zhurnal (in Russian). 39: 1811–1818 [1813].
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