Peripatopsis leonina Purcell, 1899:344
Lion's Hill velvet worm
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
No synonyms (fide Oliveira et al., 2012; Oliveira, 2023).
Conservation Status
Missing (Hamer, 2003b; Oliveira, 2023:227)
Last record: 1900 (Hamer, 2003b); 1904 (van Noort & Ranwashe, 2020); 1912 (Oliveira et al., 2012; Oliveira, 2023:227)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered
The IUCN listed the species as extinct in 1996 (Baillie & Groombridge, 1996), but re-assessed it in 2003 as Critically Endangered (CR) because the lack of specimens does not necessarily mean that the species is extinct, due to the often cryptic nature of velvet worms. Moreover, specimens of an unknown species of velvet worm have also been seen but not collected at the type locality (Hamer, 2003a,b).
Distribution
Lion's Hill (= Signal Hill), Western Cape Province, South Africa
Type locality: "SOUTH AFRICA, Cape Town, Cape town side of Signal Hill (Lions Hill)." (Oliveira et al., 2012)
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
No holotype was designated by (Purcell, 1899).
IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection (1800-2013):
The Myriapoda & Onychophora collection (MY) of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN - Paris):
MNHN-MY-MY39 (female) [syntype]
MNHN-MY-MY42 (1 male; 1 female)
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University:
Other specimens:
NHM-1936.4.28.4 [collected 1912] (Oliveira et al., 2012; Oliveira, 2023:227)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Purcell, W. F. (1899). On the South African species of Peripatidae in the collection of the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum 1: 331-351.
Other references:
Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. (eds). (1996). 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. pp. 378. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Bouvier, E.-L. (1905). Monographie des Onychophores. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie 2: 1-383. [p. 121-122]
Brinck, P. (1957) Onychophora, a review of South African species, with a discussion on the significance of the geographical distribution of the group. In: Hanström B, Brinck P, Rudebeck G. (Eds). South African Animal Life. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, Sweden: 7-32.
Daniels, S. R., Picker, M. D., Cowlin, R. M. and Hamer, M. L. (2009). Unravelling evolutionary lineages among South African velvet worms (Onychophora: Peripatopsis) provides evidence for widespread cryptic speciation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 97: 200-216. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2009.01205.x
Groombridge, B. (ed.). (1994). 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
Hamer, M. L. (2003a). Peripatopsis leonina. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 12 December 2010.
Hamer, M. L. (2003b). Peripatopsis leonina. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2003: e.T16620A6189763. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2003.RLTS.T16620A6189763.en. Accessed on 14 May 2023.
Hamer, M. L., Samways, M. J. and Ruhberg, H. (1997). A review of the Onychophora of South Africa, with discussion of their conservation. Annals of the Natal Museum 38(1): 283-312.
Manton, S. (1938). Studies on the Onychophora VI. The life history of Peripatopsis. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 11: 515-529.
Mauriès, J. and Chagnoux, S. (2022). The Myriapoda & Onychophora collection (MY) of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN - Paris). Version 74.256. MNHN - Museum national d'Histoire naturelle. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/eq1kml accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-04-03. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1019538525
Monge-Nájera, Julián (1994). Reproductive trends, habitat type and body characteristcs in velvet worms (Onychophora). Revista de Biología Tropical 42(3): 611-622.
Oliveira, I. S. (2023). An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names. ZooKeys 1184: 133-260. https://doi. org/10.3897/zookeys.1184.107286
Oliveira, I. S., Read, V. M. S. J. and Mayer, G. (2012). A world checklist of Onychophora (velvet worms), with notes on nomenclature and status of names. ZooKeys 211: 1-70. https://doi.org/10.3897%2Fzookeys.211.3463
Ruhberg, Hike. (1985). Die Peripatopsidae (Onychophora). Systematik, Okologie, Chorologie und phylogenetische Aspekte in Schaller F (Ed). Zoologica (Stuttgart) 137: .
van Noort, D. S. and Ranwashe, F. (2020). IZIKO South Africa Museum Collection (1800-2013). Version 1.4. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/vf3ko1 accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-04-03. https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1224579455
Weidner, H. (1959). Die Entomologischen Sammlungen des Zoologischen Staatsinstituts und Zoologischen Museums Hamburg. I. Teil, Pararthropoda und Chelicerata. Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut 57: 89-142.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripatopsis_leonina