Tasmanipatus

Tasmanipatus
Tasmanipatus barretti
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Onychophora
Family:	Peripatopsidae
Genus:	Tasmanipatus Ruhberg, Mesibov, Briscoe & Tait, 1991
Species:	T. barretti
Binomial name
Tasmanipatus barretti Ruhberg, Mesibov, Briscoe & Tait, 1991
Map of Tasmania with the distribution Tasmanipatus barretti in pink
Synonyms
Ooperipatus insignis(Barrett, 1938)

Tasmanipatus barretti, the giant velvet worm, is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family. ^[1] It is the sole species in the genus Tasmanipatus ^[2] and is ovoviviparous. ^[3]

Taxonomy

Tasmanipatus barretti was described by Ruhberg et al. in 1991. ^{[4] [5]} The generic name Tasmanipatus refers to the species' distribution in Tasmania, Australia. The specific name barretti refers to Australian naturalist Charles Leslie Barrett, who was sent a specimen from St Marys. Barrett is thought to have published the first record of the species, though he did not recognise it as a new species. ^[5]

Morphology

The dorsal surface is mauve with a darker median stripe. The ventral surface is creamy-white. There are 15 pairs of oncopods (legs). Adults are typically 35–40 mm long, but may extend to 75 mm while walking. ^[5] The common name refers to its size, which is large among the Peripatopsidae; however, much larger velvet worms exist in the Peripatidae (see Mongeperipatus solorzanoi ).

References

1. Oliveira, I. S.; Hering, L. & Mayer, G. "Updated Onychophora checklist". Onychophora Website. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
2. Oliveira, Ivo de Sena; Ruhberg, Hilke; Rowell, David M.; Mayer, Georg (2018-08-16). "Revision of Tasmanian viviparous velvet worms (Onychophora : Peripatopsidae) with descriptions of two new species". Invertebrate Systematics. 32 (4): 909–932. doi:10.1071/IS17096. ISSN   1447-2600. S2CID   91253450.
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. "Species Tasmanipatus barretti Ruhberg, Mesibov, Briscoe & Tait, 1991". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
5. Ruhberg, H.; Mesibov, R.; Briscoe, D. A.; Tait, N. N. (1991). "Tasmanipatus barretti gen. nov., sp. nov. and Tasmanipatus anophthalmus sp. no.: two new and unusual onychophorans (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae) from northeastern Tasmania". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 125: 7–10. doi: 10.26749/rstpp.125.7 .