Peripatopsis capensis is a species of velvet worm in the Peripatopsidae family.[1] This species has 18 pairs of legs: 17 pregenital leg pairs with claws plus one strongly reduced last pair without claws or spinous pads.[2][3] Females of this species range from 9 mm to 70 mm in length, whereas males range from 6 mm to 54 mm.[4] The native range of this species is limited to the Cape Peninsula of South Africa.[2][5]
| Peripatopsis capensis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Family: | Peripatopsidae |
| Genus: | Peripatopsis |
| Species: | P. capensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Peripatopsis capensis (Grube, 1866)
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| Synonyms | |
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Introduced distribution edit
Outside of its native range in South Africa, this species has also been found on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, thought to be an accidental human-mediated introduction. Santa Cruz Island also has one or more native species of velvet worms in the family Peripatidae.Espinasa, Luis; Garvey, Radha; Espinasa, Jordi; Fratto, Christina; Taylor, Steven; Toulkeridis, Theofilos; Addison, Aaron (2015-01-21). "Cave dwelling Onychophora from a Lava Tube in the Galapagos". Subterranean Biology. 15: 1–10. doi:10.3897/subtbiol.15.8468.</ref>
References edit
- ^ Oliveira, I. S.; Hering, L. & Mayer, G. "Updated Onychophora checklist". Onychophora Website. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
- ^ a b McDonald, Dane E.; Ruhberg, Hilke; Daniels, Savel R. (2012-07-05). "Two new Peripatopsis species (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae) from the Western Cape province, South Africa". Zootaxa. 3380 (1): 55–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3380.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ Purcell, W.F. (1899). "On the South African species of Peripatidae in the collection of the South African Museum". Annals of the South African Museum. 1: 331–351 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Monge-Nájera, Julián (1994). "Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora)". Revista de Biología Tropical. 42 (3): 611–622. ISSN 2215-2075.
- ^ Oliveira, I. S.; Read, V. M. S. J.; Mayer, G. (2012). "A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names". ZooKeys (211): 1–70. Bibcode:2012ZooK..211....1O. doi:10.3897/zookeys.211.3463. PMC 3426840. PMID 22930648.
Further reading edit
- Camatini, M.; Franci, E.; Saita, A. (1979). "Ultrastructural investigation of spermiogenesis in Peripatopsis-capensis (Onychophora)". Journal of Morphology. 159 (1): 29–47. doi:10.1002/jmor.1051590104. PMID 30213150. S2CID 52269962.
- McDonald, D. E.; Daniels, S. R. (2012). "Phylogeography of the Cape velvet worm (Onychophora: Peripatopsis capensis) reveals the impact of Pliocene/Pleistocene climatic oscillations on Afromontane forest in the Western Cape, South Africa". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 25 (5): 824–835. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02482.x. PMID 22409213.
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