Mecistocephalus lifuensis is a species of soil centipede in the Mecistocephalidae family.[1] This species was first described in 1898 by zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock based on type material found on is Lifou Island in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in Melanesia.[2][3] This centipede is notable for featuring 51 pairs of legs rather than the 49 leg pairs usually observed in the genus Mecistocephalus.[4][5]
| Mecistocephalus lifuensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Chilopoda |
| Order: | Geophilomorpha |
| Family: | Mecistocephalidae |
| Genus: | Mecistocephalus |
| Species: | M. lifuensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Mecistocephalus lifuensis Pocock, 1898
| |
Description
editThis species has 51 pairs of legs and can reach 41 mm in length.[6] The body is yellow, but the head is a medium reddish shade of brown. Each sternite but the last features a groove down the middle. This groove is Y-shaped on the anterior segments. The last sternite is broad at the base, shaped like a triangle pointed toward the posterior end.[2] The ultimate legs are slender.[6]
Phylogeny
editA phylogenetic analysis of the family Mecistocephalidae based on morphology places M. lifuensis in a clade nested among other species in the genus Mecistocephalus with 49 leg pairs in a phylogenetic tree. This analysis also indicates that the ancestor of this species had 49 leg pairs. Thus, this species evolved from this ancestor through a process that added two leg-bearing segments and two leg pairs.[1]
Distribution
editThe species is found in the Loyalty Islands Province of New Caledonia.[1][6]
References
edit- ^ a b c Bonato, Lucio; Foddai, Donatella; Minelli, Alessandro (2003). "Evolutionary trends and patterns in centipede segment number based on a cladistic analysis of Mecistocephalidae (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)". Systematic Entomology. 28 (4): 539–579. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00217.x. ISSN 0307-6970.
- ^ a b Pocock, Reginald I. (1898). "Report on the centipedes and millipedes". Zoological results based on material from New Britain, New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and elsewhere, collected during the years 1895, 1896, and 1897. 1: 60-74 [63] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Attems, Carl (1929). Attems, Karl (ed.). Lfg. 52 Myriapoda, 1: Geophilomorpha (in German). De Gruyter. p. 138. doi:10.1515/9783111430638. ISBN 978-3-11-143063-8.
- ^ Evans, W. Edgar; Brolemann, Henry W. (1923). "VI.—Myriapods collected in Mesopotamia and N.W. Persia". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 42: 54–74 [56]. doi:10.1017/S0370164600023841. ISSN 0370-1646.
- ^ Bonato, L.; Minelli, A. (2004). "The centipede genus Mecistocephalus Newport 1843 in the Indian Peninsula (Chilopoda Geophilomorpha Mecistocephalidae)". Tropical Zoology. 17 (1): 15–63 [56]. doi:10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198. ISSN 0394-6975. S2CID 85304657.
- ^ a b c Ribaut, H. (1923). "Chilopodes de la Nouvelle-Calédonie et des Îles Loyalty". Nova Caledonia, Recherches Scientifiques en Nouvelle-Calédonie et aux Îles Loyalty (in French). 3 (1): 1-79 [63-64] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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