Mantophasmatidae 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 carnivorous wingless insects within the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

order Mantophasmatodea, which was discovered in Africa in 2001. Recent evidence indicates a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

relationship with Grylloblattidae (classified in the order Grylloblattodea), and Arillo and Engel have combined the two groups into a single order, Notoptera, with Grylloblattodea and Mantophasmatodea ranked as suborders.

Overview

The most common vernacular name for this order is gladiators, although they also are called rock crawlers, heelwalkers, mantophasmids, and colloquially, mantos. Their modern centre of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

is western

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

( Brandberg Massif), although the modern relict population of '' Tanzaniophasma subsolana'' in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

fossils suggest a wider ancient distribution. Mantophasmatodea are wingless even as

adult An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...

s, making them relatively difficult to identify. They resemble a cross between

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate ...

es and phasmids, and molecular evidence indicates that they are most closely related to the equally enigmatic group Grylloblattodea. Initially, the gladiators were described from old museum specimens that originally were found in Namibia ('' Mantophasma zephyra'') and Tanzania ('' M. subsolana''), and from a 45-million-year-old specimen of

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

('' Raptophasma kerneggeri''). Live specimens were found in Namibia by an international expedition in early 2002; '' Tyrannophasma gladiator'' was found on the Brandberg Massif, and '' Mantophasma zephyra'' was found on the Erongoberg Massif. Since then, a number of new genera and species have been discovered, the most recent being two new genera, '' Kuboesphasma'' and '' Minutophasma'', each with a single species, described from Richtersveld in

in 2018.

Biology

Mantophasmatids are wingless carnivores. During courtship, they communicate using vibrations transmitted through the ground or substrate.

Classification

The classification of Mantophasmatodea in Arillo & Engel (2006) recognizes numerous genera, including fossils, in a single family Manophasmatidae: Gladiator

* Basal and ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' ** Genus †'' Raptophasma'' Zompro, 2001 –

Baltic amber Baltic amber or succinite is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that this forested region provided the re ...

** Genus †'' Adicophasma'' Engel & Grimaldi, 2004 – Baltic amber, Eocene **Genus †'' Juramantophasma'' Huang ''et al,'' 2008 – Daohugou Bed, China, Middle Jurassic ( Callovian) ** Genus ?†'' Ensiferophasma'' Zompro, 2005 – Baltic amber, Eocene (assignment to Mantophasmatodea considered dubious) * Subfamily Tanzaniophasmatinae Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 ** Genus '' Tanzaniophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – Tanzania *** Species '' Tanzaniophasma subsolana'' (Zompro, Klass, Kristensen, & Adis 2002) * Subfamily Mantophasmatinae ** Tribe Tyrannophasmatini Zompro, 2005 *** Genus '' Praedatophasma'' Zompro & Adis, 2002 – Namibia **** Species '' Praedatophasma maraisi'' Zompro & Adis, 2002 *** Genus '' Tyrannophasma'' Zompro, 2003 – Namibia **** Species '' Tyrannophasma gladiator'' Zompro, 2003 ** Tribe Mantophasmatini Zompro, Klass, Kristensen, Adis, 2002 (

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

?) *** Genus '' Mantophasma'' Zompro, Klass, Kristensen, Adis, 2002 – Namibia **** Species '' Mantophasma gamsbergense'' Zompro & Adis, 2006 **** Species '' Mantophasma kudubergense'' Zompro & Adis, 2006 **** Species '' Mantophasma omatakoense'' Zompro & Adis, 2006 **** Species '' Mantophasma zephyra'' Zompro, Klass, Kristensen, & Adis 2002 *** Genus '' Pachyphasma'' Wipfler, Pohl, & Predel, 2012 – Namibia **** Species '' Pachyphasma brandbergense'' Wipfler, Pohl, & Predel, 2012 *** Genus '' Sclerophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – Namibia **** Species '' Sclerophasma paresisense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, & Tojo 2003 ** Tribe Austrophasmatini Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 *** Genus '' Austrophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – South Africa **** Species '' Austrophasma caledonense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 **** Species '' Austrophasma gansbaaiense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 **** Species '' Austrophasma rawsonvillense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 *** Genus '' Hemilobophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – South Africa **** Species '' Hemilobophasma montaguense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 *** Genus '' Karoophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – South Africa **** Species '' Karoophasma biedouwense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 **** Species '' Karoophasma botterkloofense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003 *** Genus '' Kuboesphasma'' Wipfler, Theska & Predel, 2018 – South Africa **** Species '' Kuboesphasma compactum'' Wipfler, Theska & Predel, 2018 *** Genus '' Lobatophasma'' Damgaard, Klass, Picker & Buder, 2008 (formerly ''Lobophasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003) – South Africa **** Species '' Lobatophasma redelinghuysense'' (Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort & Tojo, 2003) *** Genus '' Minutophasma'' Wipfler, Theska & Predel, 2018 – South Africa **** Species '' Minutophasma richtersveldense'' Wipfler, Theska & Predel, 2018 *** Genus '' Namaquaphasma'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 – South Africa **** Species '' Namaquaphasma ookiepense'' Klass, Picker, Damgaard, van Noort, Tojo, 2003 *** Genus '' Striatophasma'' Wipfler, Pohl & Predel, 2012 – Namibia **** Species '' Striatophasma naukluftense'' Wipfler, Pohl & Predel, 2012 *** Genus '' Viridiphasma'' Eberhard, Picker, Klass, 2011 – South Africa **** Species '' Viridiphasma clanwilliamense'' Eberhard, Picker, Klass, 2011 Some taxonomists assign full family status to the subfamilies and tribes, and sub-ordinal status to the family. In total, there are 21 extant species described as of 2018.

Notes

References

External links