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Systematics, phylogeny and biogeography
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Morphological and systematic study of the tribe Australiosomatini (Diplopoda : Polydesmida : Paradoxosomatidea : Paradoxosomatidae) and a revision of the genus Australiosoma Brölemann

Melissah Rowe A C and Petra Sierwald B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.

B Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: melissah@uchicago.edu

Invertebrate Systematics 20(5) 527-556 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS05034
Submitted: 12 August 2005  Accepted: 2 June 2006   Published: 12 October 2006

Abstract

The collection of several paradoxosomatid species in the context of ecological studies prompted an investigation into the morphology and species-level characteristics of Australian millipedes in the tribe Australiosomatini Brölemann, 1916 (Polydesmida : Paradoxosomatidae). Three new species are described: Akamptogonus caragoon, sp. nov., Australiosoma fulbrighti, sp. nov. and Australiosoma combei, sp. nov. Notes or re-descriptions are provided for nine additional species belonging to the tribe. Scanning electron microscopy was utilised to examine details of the antennal sensory fields, the fifth sternite lamella and associated pores. The presence of the fifth sternite lamella in adult males is considered a synapomorphy for the family Paradoxosomatidae, whereas the prominent tubercle on the first femur in males (adenostyle) represents a synapomorphy of the subfamily Australiosomatinae. With the description of two new species in the genus Australiosoma Brölemann, 1913 a revision of the genus was undertaken with the purpose of constructing a species-level phylogeny. The most commonly described and utilised species-specific characteristics were scored in a data matrix and analysed using PAUP. The analysis resulted in a single, fully resolved tree of the following structure: Hoplatria clavigera ((A. clavigerum, A. inusitatum) (((A. rainbowi, A. nodulosum) A. michelseni) (A. laminatum (A. combei, A. fulbrighti))).

Additional keywords: Australia, millipede.


Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank representatives of all institutions for the loan of specimens, including type material. We wish to thank Bob Mesibov for his work in creating the online checklist of Australian millipedes and for his helpful revision of earlier versions of the manuscript, Betty Strack for her assistance with scanning electron microscopy, Jim Kohen for discussing Australian Aboriginal language and Clara Richardson for her assistance with Adobe Illustrator. The first author (MR) expresses her gratitude to Andy Beattie, Mark Dangerfield, Stephen Pruett-Jones, the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and Mr Andrew Combe for their support. Drs Mesibov, Edgecombe and Golovatch provided helpful and constructive criticism on earlier drafts of this manuscript. This work is partly funded by NSF PEET grant 97–12438 to Petra Sierwald and William A. Shear (Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia).


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