Phylum: Onychophora (Velvet Worms)
"Onychophorans, commonly known as velvet worms, possess a soft, elongated body covered by a lightly sclerotised cuticle, multiple locomotor limbs, and a pair of anterior slime papillae that expel a sticky slime used to immobilise their prey. Members of the phylum Onychophora are found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, with about 230 described species divided into two families: Peripatidae, with a pantropical distribution (Neotropics, Antilles, west Africa, and southeast Asia), and Peripatopsidae, with a circum-Antarctic distribution (Chile, South Africa, New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand)"
Source: Montalvo-Salazar, Jorge L. et al. (2024). A new species of velvet worm of the genus Oroperipatus (Onychophora, Peripatidae) from western Amazonia. Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(3): 779-789. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.117952
Class: Udeonycophora
Order: Euonycophora
Family: Peripatidae
| Scientific Name | Author/s | Common Name | Last Record | Distribution | Status | Taxon Profile |
| Epiperipatus isthmicola | (Bouvier, 1902) | - | (rediscovered) | Costa Rica | Rediscovered | Access |
| Oroperipatus eisenii | (Wheeler, 1898) | - | (rediscovered) | Mexico | Rediscovered | Access |
| Plicatoperipatus jamaicensis | (Grabham & Cockerell, 1892) | - | (rediscovered) | Jamaica | Rediscovered | Access |
|
Typhloperipatus williamsoni |
Kemp, 1913 | Red velvet worm | (rediscovered) | Arunachal Pradesh, India | Rediscovered | Access |
Family: Peripatopsidae
| Scientific Name | Author/s | Common Name | Last Record | Distribution | Status | Taxon Profile |
|
Opisthopatus roseus |
Lawrence, 1947 | Pink velvet worm | - | Ngele Forest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | Uncertain | Access |
| Peripatopsis clavigera | Purcell, 1899 | Knysna velvet worm | - | South Africa | Uncertain | Access |
| Peripatopsis leonina | Purcell, 1899 | Lion's Hill velvet worm | 1900 or 1904 or 1912 | Lion's Hill, Western Cape Province, South Africa | Missing or Extinct | Access |
Statistics
| Conservation status | Number of taxa (in percentage) |
| Extinct | 0 |
| Missing | 0 |
| Extinct in the Wild | 0 |
| Possibly Extinct in the Wild | 0 |
| Globally Rediscovered | 4 (57.15%) |
| Rediscovered in the Wild | 0 |
| Reintroduced | 0 |
| Hypothetical | 0 |
| Invalid | 0 |
| Erroneously listed | 0 |
| Uncertain status | 3 (42.85%) |
| Total | 7 |