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 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] [3]} and is ovoviviparous. ^[4]

Discovery and naming

Tasmanipatus barretti was described by Ruhberg et al. in 1991. ^{[5] [6]} 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 recognize it as a new species. ^[6] The animal's common name refers to its size, being fairly large when compared to other Peripatopsids. However, much larger velvet worms exist in the family Peripatidae (see Mongeperipatus solorzanoi ).^{[ citation needed ]}

Description

Tasmanipatus has a mauve colored back with a slightly darker dorsomedial furrow running along its midline. The animal has a pair of antennae, two ocelli, a pair of Slime papillae, and 15 pairs of legs called lobopods. Adults are typically 35-40 millimeters long but can extend to 75 millimeters while walking. ^[6]

Classification

Tasmanipatus is an onychophoran from the family Peripatopsidae. ^{[7] [8]} It falls within a large Australasian clade, being closely related to southern genera like Diemenipatus , Peripatoides , and Ooperipatellus . Below is a genus-level phylogeny of Peripatopsid velvet worms. ^[8] As it doesn't include every genus of peripatopsid, it eventually needs updating. ^[7]

Peripatopsidae	Australasian Clade Paraperipatus Australian Clade Peripatopsidae sp. MCZ 131371 & MCZ 141416 Ooperipatus Phallocephale Aethrikos Euperipatoides Occiperipatoides Kumbadjena South Oceanian Clade Peripatoides Diemenipatus Tasmanipatus Ooperipatellus Afro‑American Clade Peripatopsis Metaperipatus Opisthopatus

Distribution and habitat

The species lives in Tasmania. ^{[3] [6]}

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. "giant velvet worm (Genus Tasmanipatus)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
4. 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.
5. "Species Tasmanipatus barretti Ruhberg, Mesibov, Briscoe & Tait, 1991". Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Government. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
6. 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 .
7. 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.
8. Giribet, Gonzalo; Buckman-Young, Rebecca S.; Costa, Cristiano Sampaio; Baker, Caitlin M.; Benavides, Ligia R.; Branstetter, Michael G.; Daniels, Savel R.; Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo (2018). "The 'Peripatos' in Eurogondwana? – Lack of evidence that south-east Asian onychophorans walked through Europe" . Invertebrate Systematics. 32 (4): 840–863. doi:10.1071/IS18007.