Schendylops ramirezi
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| Schendylops ramirezi | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Chilopoda |
| Order: | Geophilomorpha |
| Family: | Schendylidae |
| Genus: | Schendylops |
| Species: | S. ramirezi
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| Binomial name | |
| Schendylops ramirezi Pereira, 2013
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Schendylops ramirezi is a species of soil centipede in the family Schendylidae.[1][2] This centipede is notable as the species with the fewest legs recorded in the order Geophilomorpha for each sex (27 pairs of legs for males, 29 leg pairs for females).[3] This species is also the smallest in the genus Schendylops, reaching only 7 mm in length.[3]
Discovery[edit]
This species was first described in 2013 by the zoologist Luis Alberto Pereira of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata based on specimens collected in 1999 in Brazil. These specimens include a female holotype, five paratypes (three males and two females), and nineteen other specimens (fifteen females and four males), including five subadults and fourteen juveniles. The species is named for the arachnologist Martin Javier Ramirez of Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales in Buenos Aires, who collected all the specimens. These specimens are deposited at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo.[3]
Description[edit]
All seven male specimens of S. ramirezi have only 27 leg pairs, and all eighteen female specimens have only 29 pairs. The holotype female (preserved in alcohol) has a pale yellowish color and measures 7 mm in length and 0.37 mm in maximum body width. The two female paratypes range from 6.5 mm to 7 mm in length, whereas the three male paratypes range from 5 mm to 6 mm in length. The five subadults (two females and three males) measure 4.5 mm in length, and the fourteen juveniles (thirteen females and one male) range from 3 mm to 4 mm in length. Given the small size of these tiny centipedes, Pereira describes S. ramirezi as a "dwarf species."[3]
Only one species of soil centipede other than S. ramirezi, is known to include soil centipedes with only 27 pairs of legs: Schendylops oligopus, first described in 1995 based on specimens collected in Brazil.[3] Males of the species S. oligopus have 27 or 29 leg pairs, whereas females of this species have 31 pairs. These males usually have 29 leg pairs, however, and rarely have only 27 pairs: In a large sample of 31 males, only one specimen had only 27 leg pairs.[4] Furthermore, only one species of soil centipede other than S. ramirez is known to include females with only 29 leg pairs: Dinogeophilus oligopodus, first described in 1984 based on specimens collected in Argentina, which has 29 leg pairs in each sex. Thus, only S. ramirezi features the minimum number of legs recorded in the order Geophilomorpha for males as well as for females.[3]
The species S. ramirezi shares a set of distinctive traits with several other species of Schendylops, including S. oligopus: These features include pore-fields on the anterior region of the body only, without a pore-field on the sternite of the first leg-bearing segment, and with all pore-fields undivided. Moreover, the fourth antennal article (segment) is similar in length to the contiguous antennal articles, and the medial edge of the forcipular trochanteroprefemur (the first article of the forcipule) is unarmed.[3][5]
Although S. ramirez and S. oligopus share many features, including a similar number of legs, these two species also differ from one another in numerous respects. For example, whereas S. ramirezi features setae on the coxosternite of the first maxillae and a large seta in the middle of the coxosternite of the second maxillae, all these setae are absent in S. oligopus. Furthermore, while both species are small, S. oligopus is nevertheless larger than S. ramirezi: Females of the species S. oligopus can reach 10 mm in length, and males can reach 8 mm in length.[3]
Like S. ramirezi and S. oligopus, other small soil centipedes often feature notably few legs.[3] Most specimens of D. oligopodus, for example, measure only 4.5 mm in length, making that centipede the smallest not only in the order Geophilomorpha but also among all epimorphic centipedes.[6] The species Schendyla antici, first described in 2024 based on specimens collected in Serbia, reaches only 8 mm in length and features 29 leg pairs in males and 31 pairs in females.[7] Only six species, including these four, are known to feature soil centipedes with only 29 leg pairs.[7]
Distribution[edit]
This species is known only from the type locality on Ilha Grande, Praia Grande das Palmas, in Rio de Janeiro State in Brazil.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "ITIS - Report: Schendylops ramirezi". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Schendylops ramirezi Pereira, 2013". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pereira, Luis Alberto (2013-01-01). "Discovery of a second geophilomorph species (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) having twenty-seven leg-bearing segments, the lowest number recorded up to the present in the centipede order Geophilomorpha". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 53 (13): 163–185. doi:10.1590/S0031-10492013001300001. hdl:11336/3449. ISSN 1807-0205.
- ^ Minelli, A.; Foddai, D.; Pereira, L. A.; Lewis, J. G. E. (2000). "The evolution of segmentation of centipede trunk and appendages". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 38 (2): 103–117. doi:10.1046/j.1439-0469.2000.382137.x. ISSN 0947-5745.
- ^ Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory; Lewis, John; Minelli, Alessandro; Pereira, Luis; Shelley, Rowland; Zapparoli, Marzio (2010-11-18). "A common terminology for the external anatomy of centipedes (Chilopoda)". ZooKeys (69): 17–51. Bibcode:2010ZooK...69...17B. doi:10.3897/zookeys.69.737. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 3088443. PMID 21594038.
- ^ Bonato, Lucio; Minelli, Alessandro; Drago, Leandro; Pereira, Luis Alberto (2015-09-25). "The phylogenetic position of Dinogeophilus and a new evolutionary framework for the smallest epimorphic centipedes (Chilopoda: Epimorpha)". Contributions to Zoology. 84 (3): 237–253. doi:10.1163/18759866-08403004. hdl:11577/3146565. ISSN 1875-9866.
- ^ a b Stojanović, Dalibor Z.; Šević, Mirko; Makarov, Slobodan E. (2024-03-07). "A new dwarf schendylid centipede (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Schendylidae) with a low number of legs from Serbia, Balkan Peninsula". Zootaxa. 5419 (3): 401–418. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5419.3.5. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 38480317.
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