Phylogeny of Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda) inferred from new morphological and molecular evidence

Abstract

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.

The first geophilid centipedes from Malesia: a new genus with two new species from Sumatra (Chilopoda, Geophilidae)

“…The combination of a number of characters (pattern of areolation on the clypeus, structure of projections on the labrum, shape of the second maxillary pretarsus and structure of female gonopods) is diagnostic of the Geophilidae in the perception of both traditional taxonomy (e.g., Edgecombe et al 2011) and recent cladistic analysis (Bonato et al 2014). …”

Cell size versus body size in geophilomorph centipedes

“…Phylogenetic considerations (Bonato et al , 2014a and palaeontological evidence (Bonato et al 2014b) suggest that the range of variation in body size exhibited by living geophilomorphs is the result of diverging evolutionary trends toward both larger and smaller body sizes and both higher and lower number of segments, from an intermediate primitive condition. In fact, parsimony-based reconstruction of the state of these characters in the earliest representatives of Geophilomorpha suggests a body length in the interval of 1 to 3 cm and a number of leg-bearing trunk segments in the range 41-45.…”

“…This analysis is based on 39 specimens representative of 29 species of all major clades of Geophilomorpha (Bonato et al 2014a) and spanning the whole range of body size in the group, including two gigantic species and four species that can be considered miniaturized . The 29 species are classified into nine suprageneric taxa, traditionally treated as families or subfamilies (Table 1).…”

Taxonomic revision of Stigmatomma Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Malagasy region

“…Also, while it seems improbable that a specialized predator would become an exotic species, it is noteworthy that: (1) the putative prey of Stigmatomma besucheti (i.e., geophilomorph centipedes) are widespread around the world and a major component of soil ecosystems (Bonato et al 2013); and (2) global trade is known to profoundly influence the movement of species around the world (McNeely et al 2001), and plant seeds and other organisms were inadvertently dispersed in the soil used as ballast in early shipping (McNeely et al 2001). The Seychelles have historically occupied a strategic position along Indian Ocean trade routes, providing coaling/fuelling stations for ships bringing goods from the East to Europe and North America (Ofcansky 1995).…”