''Tygarrup'' is a

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 ...

of soil centipedes in the

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 ...

Mecistocephalidae Mecistocephalidae is a monophyletic family of centipedes in the order Geophilomorpha. It is the only family in the suborder Placodesmata. Most species in this family live in tropical or subtropical regions, but some occur in temperate regions. T ...

. These

centipedes Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin language, Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphyl ...

are found mainly in

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

regions of

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

and

southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and from

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The

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), ...

in this genus have adapted to a broad range of habitats, from sea level to high mountains and from tropical

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

to cold

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

forests. The species '' Tygarrup javanicus'' has become an invasive in greenhouses in Europe.

Taxonomy

This genus was first described by the American

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Ralph V. Chamberlin in 1914 to contain the newly discovered

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

'' T. intermedius''. In 1942, the German

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Karl W. Verhoeff described ''Brahmaputrus'' as a new genus to contain the newly discovered type species ''B. poriger''. In 1968, however, the American

myriapodologist Myriapodology is the scientific study of myriapods which includes centipedes and millipedes. The field of myriapodology can also cover other myriapods such as pauropods and symphylans. Those who study myriapods are myriapodologists. Societies * ...

Ralph E. Crabill deemed ''Brahmaputrus'' to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Tygarrup''. Authorities now consider ''Tygarrup'' to be the valid name for ''Brahmaputrus''.

Description

Centipedes in this genus feature elongated heads. The clypeus lacks a longitudinal areolate stripe down the middle, and the pleurites on the side of the head lack

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

. The coxosternite of the first

maxillae In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxillar ...

is divided down the middle by a longitudinal suture, but the coxosternum of the second maxillae is undivided. The second maxillae are well developed and reach beyond the first maxillae. Each of the second maxillae ends in a claw. The forcipular

tergum A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton wi ...

is slightly wider than long. The groove on the ventral surface of the trunk segments is not forked. The

ultimate legs Ultimate legs are a pair of modified rear legs unique to centipedes. Although they do not aid in locomotion, ultimate legs are used for a variety of uses, and their morphology varies accordingly. Sexual dimorphism is frequently present. Usage ...

are as slender in the male as in the female. Species in this genus range from 2 cm to 6 cm in length. These species can have either 43 or 45 leg-bearing segments. Most of these species (e.g., ''

Tygarrup anepipe ''Tygarrup'' is a genus of soil centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae. These centipedes are found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of East Asia and southeast Asia and from Seychelles to Hawaii. The species in this genus have adapt ...

'', '' T. daliensis,'' '' T. diversidens,'' '' T. griseoviridis,'' ''T. javanicus'', '' T. malabarus,'' '' T. muminabadicus'', '' T. nepalensis'', ''T. poriger'', '' T. singaporiensis'', and '' T. takarazimensis'') have 45 leg pairs. An undescribed ''Tygarrup'' species found in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

has 43 leg pairs.

Phylogeny

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 family Mecistocephalidae using morphological features places the genus ''Tygarrup'' in the subfamily Mecistocephalinae along with the genera '' Krateraspis'', '' Mecistocephalus,'' and '' Takashimaia.'' This analysis also places the genus ''Tygarrup'' 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 subfamily with the other three genera in a

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 ...

forming 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 ''Tygarrup''. The genera in this subfamily share a set of distinctive traits, including a head that is evidently longer than wide, a divided coxosternum of the first maxillae, an undivided coxosternum of the second maxillae, well developed second maxillae that each feature a claw, and a forcipular tergum that is slightly wider than long. A set of other traits, however, distinguishes ''Tygarrup'' from its close relatives in this subfamily. For example, where the anterior part of the side of the head in ''Mecistocephalus'' and ''Takashimaia'' features a spiculum (a

sclerotized Sclerosis (also sclerosus in the Latin names of a few disorders) is a hardening of tissue and other anatomical features. It may refer to: * Sclerosis (medicine), a hardening of tissue * in zoology, a process which forms sclerites, a hardened exo ...

pointed projection), this spiculum in absent in ''Tygarrup''. Furthermore, where the central part of the clypeus is areolate with a longitudinal areolate stripe running down the middle of the posterior part of the clypeus in ''Krateraspis'' and ''Mecistocephalus'', both of these areas of areolation are absent in ''Tygarrup''.

Species

Currently accepted species include: *''

'' Verhoeff, 1939 *'' Tygarrup crassignathus'' Titova, 1983 *'' Tygarrup daliensis'' Chao, Lee, Yang & Chang, 2020 *'' Tygarrup diversidens'' Silvestri, 1919 *'' Tygarrup griseoviridis'' Verhoeff, 1937 *''

Tygarrup intermedius ''Tygarrup'' is a genus of Geophilomorpha, soil centipedes in the Family (biology), family Mecistocephalidae. These Centipede, centipedes are found mainly in Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical regions of East Asia and southeast Asia an ...

'' Chamberlin, 1914 *'' Tygarrup javanicus'' Attems, 1929 *'' Tygarrup malabarus'' Chamberlin R., 1944 *'' Tygarrup muminabadicus'' Titova, 1965 *'' Tygarrup nepalensis'' Shinohara, 1965 *'' Tygarrup poriger'' Verhoeff, 1942 *'' Tygarrup quelpartensis'' Paik, 1961 *'' Tygarrup singaporiensis'' Verhoeff K.W., 1937 *'' Tygarrup takarazimensis'' Miyosi, 1957 *'' Tygarrup triporus'' Titova, 1983

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6507137 Geophilomorpha Arthropods of Asia Taxa named by Ralph Vary Chamberlin