Ooperipatellus
Ooperipatellus is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. These velvet worms are found in Australia and New Zealand. Species in this genus are oviparous. This genus was proposed by the German zoologist Hilke Ruhberg in 1985, with Ooperipatellus insignis designated as the type species. This genus is notable as the only one in which velvet worms have no more than 14 pairs of legs.
Description
Most species in this genus have 14 leg pairs, but O. nanus has only 13 pairs, the minimum number found in the phylum Onychophora. Velvet worms in this genus are also among the smallest known, with adults often only 10 to 20 mm long. Species in this genus range in size from O. nanus, which can be only 5 mm long, to O. nickmayeri, which can reach 60 mm in length.Velvet worms in this genus have no modified head papillae, the males feature a cruciform genital opening, and the females feature an ovipositor. This genus contains all oviparous velvet worm species with 13 or 14 leg pairs and no modified head structures. Species in this genus also feature feet with three distal papillae, but no basal papillae.
Phylogeny
In spite of a disjoint geographic distribution across New Zealand, Tasmania, and Southern Australia, morphological and molecular data indicate that this genus is a monophyletic group. Molecular studies indicate that this clade includes two subclades, one containing species in New Zealand and the other containing species in both Tasmania and mainland Australia. The molecular evidence suggests that the New Zealand lineage of Ooperipatellus diverged from Australian lineage of Ooperipatellus about 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous epoch. Paleogeographic evidence indicates that glacial events severed the land connection between Tasmania and mainland Australia more recently than rifting broke the land connection between Australia and New Zealand, which would be consistent with the phylogenetic tree that emerges from molecular studies of this genus.Species and distribution
The genus contains the following nine species:Ooperipatellus cryptus Jackson & Taylor, 1995Ooperipatellus decoratus Ooperipatellus duwilensis Reid (malacologist)|Reid], 1996Ooperipatellus insignis Ooperipatellus nanus Ruhberg, 1985Ooperipatellus nickmayeri Oliveira & Mayer, 2017Ooperipatellus parvus Reid, 1996Ooperipatellus spenceri Ooperipatellus viridimaculatusAuthorities once considered Ooperipatellus cryptus Jackson & Taylor, 1995 a nomen dubium. This designation, however, has since been revoked.
Four of these species '' are found in Tasmania. Three are found on the mainland of Australia. Two are found in New Zealand.