This genus was first described by the American biologistRalph V. Chamberlin in 1914 to contain the newly discovered type speciesT. intermedius.[6] In 1942, the German zoologistKarl W. Verhoeff described Brahmaputrus as a new genus to contain the newly discovered type species B. poriger.[2] In 1968, however, the American myriapodologist Ralph E. Crabill deemed Brahmaputrus to be a junior synonym of Tygarrup.[7] Authorities now consider Tygarrup to be the valid name for Brahmaputrus.[8]
Description
Centipedes in this genus feature heads that are distinctly longer than wide.[2][9] The clypeus lacks a longitudinal areolate stripe down the middle, and the pleurites on the side of the head lack setae. The coxosternite of the first maxillae is divided down the middle by a longitudinal suture, but the coxosternite of the second maxillae is undivided. The second maxillae are well developed and reach beyond the first maxillae. Each of the second maxillae ends in a claw. The forcipulartergum is slightly wider than long. The groove on the ventral surface of the trunk segments is not forked. The ultimate legs are as slender in the male as in the female.[10][11]
A phylogenetic analysis of the family Mecistocephalidae based on morphology places the genus Tygarrup in the subfamily Mecistocephalinae along with the genera Krateraspis, Mecistocephalus, and Takashimaia. This analysis also places the genus Tygarrup on the most basal branch of a phylogenetic tree in this subfamily with the other three genera in a clade forming a sister group for Tygarrup. The genera in this subfamily share a set of distinctive traits, including a head that is evidently longer than wide, a divided coxosternum of the first maxillae, an undivided coxosternum of the second maxillae, well developed second maxillae that each feature a claw, and a forcipular tergum that is slightly wider than long.[14]
A set of other traits, however, distinguishes Tygarrup from its close relatives in this subfamily. For example, where the anterior part of the side of the head in Mecistocephalus and Takashimaia features a spiculum (a sclerotized pointed projection), this spiculum in absent in Tygarrup. Furthermore, where the central part of the clypeus is areolate with a longitudinal areolate stripe running down the middle of the posterior part of the clypeus in Krateraspis and Mecistocephalus, both of these areas of areolation are absent in Tygarrup.[13][12]
1 2 Bonato, Lucio; Dányi, László; Minelli, Alessandro (2010). "Morphology and phylogeny of Dicellophilus, a centipede genus with a highly disjunct distribution (Chilopoda: Mecistocephalidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 158 (3): 501–532 [515]. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00557.x.
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