Peripatopsidae

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Family of Onychophorans

title: "Peripatopsidae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["onychophoran-families", "taxa-named-by-eugène-louis-bouvier"] description: "Family of Onychophorans" topic_path: "general/onychophoran-families" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatopsidae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of Onychophorans ::

| image = Onycophora.jpg | image_caption = Peripatoides sp. | taxon = Peripatopsidae | authority = Bouvier, 1905 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text | range_map = Onychophora global distribution map.jpg | range_map_caption = Global range of Onychophora

Peripatopsidae or the Southern Velvet Worms are one of two extant families of velvet worm. This family includes more than 140 described species distributed among 41 genera, but some authorities deem only 131 of these species to be valid. The French zoologist Eugène Louis Bouvier proposed this family in 1905 with Peripatopsis as the type genus.

Description

The Peripatopsidae exhibit relatively many characteristics that are perceived as original or "primitive" with respect to the Peripatidae. The species in this family have relatively few legs, ranging from 13 pairs (in Ooperipatellus nanus) to a maximum of 29 pairs (in Paraperipatus papuensis). Behind or between the last leg pair is the genital opening (gonopore). This family includes both oviparous genera (e.g., Ooperipatellus and Ooperipatus) and viviparous genera, which adopt various modes of supplying nourishment to their embryos, ranging from lecithotrophic ovoviviparity (with yolky eggs retained in their uteri, e.g., Peripatoides) to matrotrophic viviparity (with little or no yolk in the eggs retained in their uteri and nourishment supplied by the mother instead, e.g., Metaperipatus, Opisthopatus, Paraperipatus, Paropisthopatus, and Peripatopsis). The Peripatopsidae lack a placenta, however, which has been found in velvet worms only in the neotropical Peripatidae.

Most genera in this family have only 15 pairs of legs; one genus has 15 or fewer (Regimitra, with 14 or 15 in the only species), and another genus includes only species with fewer than 15 (Ooperipatellus, with 13 or 14, depending on the species). Two genera are characterized by 16 pairs of legs (Occiperipatoides and Paropisthopatus), another genus has 15 or 16 (Peripatoides), and only four genera include velvet worms with more than 16: Opisthopatus (with 16 to 18), Peripatopsis (with 16 to 25), Metaperipatus (with 19 to 22), and Paraperipatus (with 21 to 29). Although leg number is fixed within most peripatopsid species, the four genera that feature more than 16 leg pairs exhibit some variation in leg number within species as well as among species. Peripatopsid species with more legs also feature greater intraspecific variation in leg number.

Distribution

The distribution of the Peripatopsidae (also known as southern velvet worms) is circumaustral; in particular, they inhabit Australasia, South Africa and Chile. Most genera in this family are found in Australia, one genus (Peripatoides) is found in New Zealand, and another (Ooperipatellus) is found in both; two genera (Opisthopatus and Peripatopsis) are found in South Africa, two others (Metaperipatus and Paropisthopatus) are found in Chile, and one other (Paraperipatus) is found in Indonesia and New Guinea.

Phylogeny

Peripatopsidae is divided into two main clades: one with members in South Africa and Chile, and another with members in Australasia. The majority of species belong to the Australasian clade, with most occurring in Australia. Below is a genus-level phylogeny of Peripatopsid velvet worms. This phylogenetic tree does not include all genera.{{clade|{{clade |label1=Australasian Clade |1={{clade |1=Paraperipatus |2={{clade |label1=Australian Clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Peripatopsidae sp. MCZ 131371 & MCZ 141416 |2={{clade |1=Ooperipatus |2={{clade |1=Phallocephale |2={{clade |1=Aethrikos |2=Euperipatoides |2={{clade |1=Occiperipatoides |2=Kumbadjena |label2=South Oceanian Clade |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Peripatoides |2=Diemenipatus |2=Tasmanipatus |2=Ooperipatellus |label2=Afro-American Clade |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Peripatopsis |2=Metaperipatus |2=Opisthopatus

Genera

The family contains the following genera:

References

References

  1. "ITIS - Report: Peripatopsidae".
  2. Oliveira, Ivo de Sena. (2023-11-16). "An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys.
  3. Oliveira, Ivo de Sena. (2023-11-16). "An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys.
  4. Bouvier, E.-L.. (1905). "Monographie des Onychophores". Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie.
  5. (2015-07-14). "A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
  6. Monge-Nájera, Julián. (1994). "Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora)". Revista de Biología Tropical.
  7. Sedgwick, A.. (1910). "Peripatus papuensis". Nature.
  8. (2020-03-03). "30. Onychophora". Princeton University Press.
  9. Mayer, Georg. (2007-04-05). "Metaperipatus inae sp. nov. (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae) from Chile with a novel ovarian type and dermal insemination". Zootaxa.
  10. (2015). "Onychophora". Springer.
  11. (2004). "Sperm ultrastructure of an oviparous and an ovoviviparous onychophoran species(Peripatopsidae) with some phylogenetic considerations". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.
  12. (2021-12-09). "Phylogenomic Analysis of Velvet Worms (Onychophora) Uncovers an Evolutionary Radiation in the Neotropics". Molecular Biology and Evolution.
  13. Reid, A. L.. (1996). "Review of the Peripatopsidae (Onychophora) in Australia, with comments on peripatopsid relationships". Invertebrate Systematics.
  14. Reid, AL.. (2002). "Western Australian Onychophora (Peripatopsidae): a new genus, Kumbadjena, for a southern species-complex". Records of the Western Australian Museum.
  15. (1995-05-01). "Genetic differentiation within New Zealand Onychophora and their relationships to the Australian fauna". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
  16. (2024). "Ngāokeoke Aotearoa: The Peripatoides Onychophora of New Zealand". Insects.
  17. (2016). "Unmasking alpha diversity, cladogenesis and biogeographical patterning in an ancient panarthropod lineage (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae: Opisthopatus cinctipes ) with the description of five novel species". Cladistics.
  18. Lande, Virginia M.. (1991). "Native and introduced Onychophora in Singapore". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
  19. (2022). "Refining species boundaries among velvet worms (Onychophora, Peripatopsidae), with the description of two new species of Opisthopatus from South Africa". Invertebrate Biology.
  20. "Southern Velvet Worms (Family Peripatopsidae)".
  21. (2014-01-22). "A living fossil tale of Pangaean biogeography". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
  22. (2018). "The 'Peripatos' in Eurogondwana? – Lack of evidence that south-east Asian onychophorans walked through Europe". Invertebrate Systematics.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

onychophoran-familiestaxa-named-by-eugène-louis-bouvier