Dalodesmidae is a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
millipede
Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...
s in the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Polydesmida
Polydesmida (from the Greek ''poly'' "many" and ''desmos'' "bond") is the largest order of millipedes, with more than 5,000 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN). This order is also the most diverse of ...
, containing at least 250
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Distribution
Species of Dalodesmidae are found in Australia (over 100 species), Madagascar,
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
, New Zealand, South Africa, and southern South America (Chile and southern Brazil).
Classification
Dalodesmidae is one of the major families of the order Polydesmida, with at least 55 genera and 250 species
[William Shear. (2011). "Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844". In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) ''Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness''.—'']Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...
'' 3148:149—164. (with some estimates up to 340 species
). It is related to the small family
Vaalogonopodidae
Vaalogonopodidae is a family of millipedes belonging to the order Polydesmida
Polydesmida (from the Greek ''poly'' "many" and ''desmos'' "bond") is the largest order of millipedes, with more than 5,000 species, including all the millipedes r ...
(8 species) with which it forms the suborder
Dalodesmidea.
The taxonomy is based mainly on the structure of the male gonopods.
Below is the list of species as of January 2014.
References
External links
Dalodesmidae of Australia
Polydesmida
Millipede families
{{Millipede-stub