''Peripatopsis moseleyi'' is a species of

velvet worm Onychophora (from , , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (for their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, '' Peripatus''), is a phylum of e ...

in the

Peripatopsidae Peripatopsidae or the Southern Velvet Worms are one of two extant families of velvet worm. This family includes more than 140 described species distributed among 41 genera, but some authorities deem only 131 of these species to be valid. The Fre ...

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 ...

. Males of this species (as traditionally defined) have 20 to 24 pairs of legs with claws (plus one pair without claws); females have 19 to 23 pairs of legs with claws (plus one pair without claws). Females range from 11 mm to 75 mm in length, whereas males range from 9 mm to 50 mm. The type locality is in

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 ...

. More recent

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

results indicate that this species as traditionally defined is instead a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

(''P. moseleyi sensu lato'') containing five genetically distinct

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s, now described as separate species: '' P. birgeri'', '' P. hamerae'', '' P. janni'', '' P. stortchi'', and ''P. moseleyi sensu stricto''. Males of this species more narrowly defined (''P. moseleyi sensu stricto'') have 22 to 24 pregenital pairs of legs (plus one genital pair); females have 23 pregenital pairs (plus one genital pair). Female specimens range from 42 mm to 60 mm in length; males range from 22 mm to 40 mm in length.

References

Further reading