Pereira, Luis Alberto;Foddai, Donatella;Minelli, Alessandro
Zoogeographical aspects of Neotropical Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda)
Entomologica Scandinavica Supplement
1997
Journal Article
51
77-86
Parque Nacional del Manu distributions Chilopoda Myriapoda Arthropoda Invertebrata Animalia Animals Arthropods Invertebrates Myriapods diversity Madre de Dios Bibliography
Of the ca.1000 species of Geophilomorpha known world-wide, nearly one in three has been described from the Neotropical Region (NTR); that is (out of brackets, figures for NTR plus the whole of Mexico (Mx); in brackets NTR without Mx): 330(268) species in 96 (81) genera in 12 (10) families. Of the 81 NTR genera, 39 are monotypic (48%). The endemic genera in the NTR without Mx are 50 out of 81 (62%). In the Caribbean area there are nine endemic genera and 39 endemic species. This fauna is apparently young, nearly all endemic taxa belonging to world-wide or at least pantropical families. However, the genera with the largest species number on mainland NTR are poorly represented in the Caribbean area. On the Galapagos Is. there are two endemic genera and five endemic species. A Magellanian fauna is hardly recognizable. The geophilid genus Geoperingueyia and the family Aphilodontidae link the Neotropical to the South African fauna. Other NTR taxa have close relatives in tropical Africa or, more generally, in the tropics. The Mexican fauna is quite rich and diverse. It is difficult to identify the Northern limits of the NTR and, consequently, to ascertain the origin of the several genera whose distribution is centred in Mx, with a few outliers. Overall, there is hardly any evidence of genera having crossed the Panama bridge in either direction. The high attitude fauna is poorly known. Most common on the Peruvian Andes are the widespread (sub)genera Schendylops and Ribautia (Schizoribautia), with endemic species. Many species of Schendylops, Pectiniunguis and Ribautia are endemic to areas identified as Pleistocenic Refugia by Prance (1982, Forest refuges: evidence from woody Angiosperms, in Prance (Ed.): Biological diversification in the Tropics. New York).