A common terminology for the external morphological characters of centipedes (Chilopoda) is proposed. Terms are selected from the alternatives used in the English literature, preferring those most frequently used or those that have been introduced explicitly. A total of 330 terms are defined and illustrated, and another ca. 500 alternatives are listed.

Abstract.  Evolutionary changes in segment number during the radiation of Mecistocephalidae, a group of geophilomorph centipedes with segment number usually invariant at the species level, were explored based on a cladistic analysis of forty‐six mecistocephalid species, representative of the extant diversity in segment number. The data matrix included 118 morphological characters. Trends were recognized in the evolution of segment number and discussed in relation to the underlying ontogenetic mechanisms of segmentation. The basic trend was towards an increasingly higher number of leg‐bearing segments, from (most probably) forty‐one to sixty‐five (101 in one exceptional case). Changes always involved even sets of segments. Additions of two, four or eight segments usually occurred, but a case of overall duplication of the whole number was also documented. Most changes occurred starting from values belonging to the arithmetical series forty‐one, forty‐five, forty‐nine, whereas the intermediate values forty‐three, forty‐seven, fifty‐one were often evolutionary dead‐ends. This evidence suggests a multiplicative mechanism of segmentation involving one or more final run of duplication, as well as a precise control of the final number of segments which produces absolute number stability, except for a single, highly derived species with an exceptionally high number of segments. These ideas contribute to a more general model of arthropod segmentation recently developed by Minelli. A taxonomic revision of mecistocephalids is presented: three subfamilies are proposed (Arrupinae, Dicellophilinae and Mecistocephalinae) and Sundarrup is recognized as a junior synonym of Anarrup.

To address the phylogenetic relationships of the centipede order Geophilomorpha (more than 1000 species), we have reinterpreted and expanded the knowledge on their morphological disparity, and have doubled the amount of molecular data available. We performed maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analyses, using 195 phylogenetically informative morphological characters for 80 species, and DNA sequences of 28S, 18S, 16S rRNA and COI for up to 48 species. We found strong support for the monophyly of Geophilomorpha, the basal dichotomy between Adesmata and Placodesmata = Mecistocephalidae, and the basal dichotomy within Adesmata between two clades that are recognized here as superfamilies Himantarioidea and Geophiloidea. With respect to the families currently in use, Himantarioidea comprises three well supported clades corresponding to (i) Oryidae, (ii) Himantariidae, and (iii) Schendylidae s.l. including Ballophilidae; Geophiloidea comprises another three supported clades corresponding to (iv) a new family Zelanophilidae, (v) Gonibregmatidae s.l. including Eriphantidae and Neogeophilidae, and (vi) Geophilidae s.l. including Aphilodontidae, Dignathodontidae, Linotaeniidae, and Macronicophilidae.

Reproductive isolation between lineages is expected to accumulate with divergence time, but the time taken to speciate may strongly vary between different groups of organisms. In anuran amphibians, laboratory crosses can still produce viable hybrid offspring >20 My after separation, but the speed of speciation in closely related anuran lineages under natural conditions is poorly studied. Palearctic green toads (Bufo viridis subgroup) offer an excellent system to address this question, comprising several lineages that arose at different times and form secondary contact zones. Using mitochondrial and nuclear markers, we previously demonstrated that in Sicily, B. siculus and B. balearicus developed advanced reproductive isolation after Plio-Pleistocene divergence (2.6 My, 3.3-1.9), with limited historic mtDNA introgression, scarce nuclear admixture, but low, if any, current gene flow. Here, we study genetic interactions between younger lineages of early Pleistocene divergence (1.9 My, 2.5-1.3) in northeastern Italy (B. balearicus, B. viridis). We find significantly more, asymmetric nuclear and wider, differential mtDNA introgression. The population structure seems to be molded by geographic distance and barriers (rivers), much more than by intrinsic genomic incompatibilities. These differences of hybridization between zones may be partly explained by differences in the duration of previous isolation. Scattered research on other anurans suggests that wide hybrid zones with strong introgression may develop when secondary contacts occur <2 My after divergence, whereas narrower zones with restricted gene flow form when divergence exceeds 3 My. Our study strengthens support for this rule of thumb by comparing lineages with different divergence times within the same radiation.

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We present a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the Mecistocephalidae occurring in the Japanese main archipelago and in Taiwan, based on both the critical analysis of published information and the comparative morphological examination of representative specimens, including type material. A total of 34 species in 8 genera are recognised. Diagnostic characters, synonyms and geographical distribution are reviewed and discussed for all species, and a detailed redescription is provided for 12 already known species. An identification key to all species is also provided. The following species are described as new: Arrup ishiianus, Arrup lilliputianus, Arrup longicalix, Arrup kyushuensis, Mecistocephalus changi, Mecistocephalus karasawai. The following synonymies are new: Tygarrup monoporus Shinohara, 1961 = Dicellophilus pulcher (Kishida, 1928); Mecistocephalus fenestratus Verhoeff, 1934 = Mecistocephalus japonicus Meinert, 1886; Mecistocephalus insulomontanus Gressitt, 1941 = Mecistocephalus marmoratus Verhoeff, 1934; Mecistocephalus manazurensis Shinohara, 1961 = Mecistocephalus nannocornis Chamberlin, 1920; Mecistocephalus mirandus Pocock, 1895 = Mecistocephalus japonicus Meinert, 1886; Mecistocephalus okinawaensis Takakuwa, 1939 = Mecistocephalus pauroporus Takakuwa, 1936; Mecistocephalus takakuwai Verhoeff, 1934 = Mecistocephalus diversisternus (Silvestri, 1919). Dicellophilus pulcher (Kishida, 1928) new comb. is here recognised as the valid name for the species previously referred to as Dicellophilus latifrons Takakuwa,1934.

Based on morphological evidence, we newly define the genus Stenotaenia Koch, 1847 (= Scnipaeus Bergsøe & Meinert, 1866; = Simophilus Silvestri, 1896; = Onychopodogaster Verhoeff, 1902; = Insigniporus Attems, 1903; = Notadenophilus Verhoeff, 1928; = Bithyniphilus Verhoeff, 1941; = Schizopleres Folkmanova, 1956; = Euronesogeophilus Matic, 1972; all syn. nov.) as including the following 15 species: Stenotaenia linearis (Koch, 1835) (= Geophilus simplex Gervais, 1835; = Geophilus brevicornis Koch, 1837; = Scnipaeus foveolatus Bergsøe & Meinert, 1866; = Himantarium caldarium Meinert, 1886 syn. nov.; = Geophilus (Geophilus) linearis var. polyporus Verhoeff, 1896 syn. nov.; = Geophilus ormanyensis Attems, 1903 syn. nov., after lectotype designation; = Insigniporus acuneli Cȃ puşe, 1968 syn. nov.) from central and northern Europe; Stenotaenia frenum (Meinert, 1870) from northern Africa; Stenotaenia romana (Silvestri, 1895) (= Geophilus silvestrii Verhoeff, 1928 syn. nov.) and Stenotaenia sorrentina (Attems, 1903) (= Geophilus forficularius Fanzago, 1881 syn. nov.; = Geophilus linearis abbreviatus Verhoeff, 1925 syn. nov.) from the Italian peninsula and Sardinia; Stenotaenia antecribellata (Verhoeff, 1898) (= Simophilus albanensis Attems, 1929 syn. nov.), Stenotaenia cribelliger (Verhoeff, 1898), Stenotaenia palpiger (Attems, 1903), Stenotaenia rhodopensis (Kaczmarek, 1970), and Stenotaenia sturanyi (Attems, 1903) from the Balkan peninsula; Stenotaenia naxia (Verhoeff, 1901) (= Geophilus graecus Verhoeff, 1902) from the Aegean islands; Stenotaenia asiaeminoris (Verhoeff, 1898) and Stenotaenia bosporana (Verhoeff, 1941) from Anatolia; Stenotaenia giljarovi (Folkmanova, 1956) from western Caucasus; Stenotaenia fimbriata (Verhoeff, 1934) and Stenotaenia palaestina (Verhoeff, 1925) from Palestine; with the only exception of S. linearis, all of these binomens are comb. nov. In Stenotaenia, a strongly conserved overall morphology is matched by an unusual interspecific variation in both the body size of fully grown specimens (from 1.7 cm in S. romana to 7.7 cm in S. sturanyi) and the number of leg-bearing segments (from 43 in male S. romana to 115 in female S. sturanyi). The number of segments correlates with maximum body size.