''Peripatopsis orientalis'' is a

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), ...

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 ...

. This species was discovered as one of four

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 within the ''

Peripatopsis sedgwicki ''Peripatopsis'' is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. These velvet worms are found in the KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This genus was proposed by the British zoologist Reginald I. P ...

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 ...

. Each clade represents a separate species, each with a different geographic distribution 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 ...

. The species ''P. orientalis'' has the broadest distribution among the four species in this species complex. The specific name refers to the relatively eastern distribution of this species within this species complex.

Discovery

This species was first described in 2024 by the

zoologists This is a list of notable zoologists who have published names of new taxa under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. A * Abe – Tokiharu Abe (1911–1996) * Abeille de Perrin, Ab. – Elzéar Abeille de Perrin (1843–1910) * ...

Aaron Barnes and Savel R. Daniels of

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

in South Africa. They discovered this species as a result of a

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 ...

analysis of the ''P. sedgwicki'' species complex using molecular data. They based the original description of this species on a female

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

and six

paratype In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype (and in botany is also neither an isotype (biology), isotype ...

s (two females, two males, and two juveniles) that they collected in 2019 in

Nature's Valley Nature's Valley is a holiday resort and small village on the Garden Route along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Nature's Valley lies between the Salt River, the foothills of the Tsitsikamma Mountains, the Indian Ocean and the Groot Rive ...

in South Africa. They also studied a large sample of additional specimens of this species found at 17 different sites, from as far west as Nature's Valley to as far east as

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province. They found these specimens inside or under decaying indigenous logs. The

type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

are deposited in the

South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum, formerly the South African Museum (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Museum), is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present ...

Phylogeny

Using molecular data, Barnes and Daniels identified this species as one of four in the ''P. sedgwicki'' species complex. The molecular evidence indicates that the species '' P. collarium'' is the closest relative of ''P. orientalis''. These close relatives are also close in terms of geography, as ''P. collarium'' is a point

endemic 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 ...

confined to the

Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve The Van Stadens River Wild Flower Reserve () near Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa, is one of the oldest nature reserves in the country. Location The park covers 600 hectares and lies 40 km west of Port Elizabeth, on an old stretc ...

, which is surrounded by the broader range of ''P. orientalis'' in the Eastern Cape province. These two species form 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 ...

for ''P. sedgwick''i s.s. (sensu stricto, that is, as narrowly understood), which emerges as the next closest relative. The species ''P. sedgwicki'' s.s. is found in a narrow range in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province. Finally, these three species form a sister group for the fourth species, '' P. margaritarius'', which appears on the most basal branch of a

phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...

in this species complex. The species ''P. margaritarius'' is a point endemic found only in the

Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa that is managed by Eastern Cape Parks Eastern Cape Parks are the national parks, marine protected areas, nature reserves and other nature conservation areas i ...

in the Eastern Cape province, with a range isolated from the other three species.

Description

The species ''P. orientalis'' can have either 19 or 20 pairs of legs, but usually has 20 leg pairs: Out of 17 different localities sampled for this species, all samples featured specimens with 20 leg pairs, and only four included specimens with 19 leg pairs. Specimens range from 9 mm to 33 mm in length. The male genital opening is

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

, and the female genital opening is a horizontal and small vertical slit. The dorsal surface of ''P. orientalis'' varies from dark blue to grey or orange, whereas the ventral surface is usually white but can also be light pink. When preserved, however, the dorsal color fades to a dark brown. The

integument In biology, an integument is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as skin, a husk, Exoskeleton, shell, germ or Peel (fruit), rind. Etymology The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is Latin for "a coverin ...

on the dorsal surface features dermal papillae that are conical or shaped like domes. The primary dorsal papillae are densely spaced and feature nine scale ranks. The ventral papillae are also densely spaced; their shape can be either conical or pyramidal. This species shares many traits with other velvet worms in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Peripatopsis ''Peripatopsis'' is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. These velvet worms are found in the KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This genus was proposed by the British zoologist Reginald I. ...

''. These shared traits include features considered characteristic for the genus, such as a cruciform genital opening in the male and variable color. This species shares more traits with the other three species in the ''P. sedgwicki'' species complex. For example, all four species feature not only identical accessory papillae on the ventral surface but also a female genital opening that takes the form of a horizontal and small vertical slit. Furthermore, ''P. orientalis'' includes specimens with 20 leg pairs, like its two closest relatives, ''P. sedgwicki'' s.s. and ''P. collarium''. The species ''P. collarium'' is known from only a small sample in one locality, with 20 leg pairs recorded in four specimens (two males and two females). The species ''P. sedgwicki'' can have either 19 or 20 leg pairs, unlike the more distant relative ''P. margaritarius'', which ranges from 21 to 23 leg pairs. Moreover, ''P. orientalis'' features dorsal accessory papillae with five scale ranks, like its closest relative ''P. collarium'' and unlike the more distant relatives ''P. sedgwicki'' s.s. and ''P. margaritarius'', which feature only four scale ranks on these papillae. The species ''P. orientalis'' can be distinguished from its closest relatives based on other traits. For example, ''P. collarium'' features a white head collar that is absent in ''P. orientalis''. Furthermore, the dorsal primary papillae in ''P. orientalis'' features nine scale ranks, unlike these papillae in ''P. collarium'' (with ten scale ranks), ''P. sedgwicki'' s.s. (with eight scale ranks), and ''P. margaritarius'' (with seven scale ranks).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q130625600 Endemic fauna of South Africa Onychophorans of temperate Africa Onychophoran species Animals described in 2024