Chelypus

Chelypus ('clawfoot') is a genus of slow-moving, burrowing sunspiders confined to the deserts and arid regions of Southern Africa.[1] There are 6 known species.

Chelypus
Chelypus sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Arachnida
Order:
Solifugae
Family:
Hexisopodidae
Genus:
Chelypus

Purcell, 1902

Description

They are readily separated from other Solifugae by an absence of claws on the fourth pair of legs.[2] Both Chelypus, and the related genus Hexisopus spend a large part of their existence underground, and their 2nd, 3rd and particularly 4th pair of legs are shortened and robust, and equipped with rake-like spines for digging.

Members of the family Hexisopodidae differ markedly in morphology from those of other Solifugae families - most patently in their fossorial rather than cursorial legs. Such extreme modifications often blur relationships with other taxa, and hexisopodid genealogy is no exception. The main external difference between Chelypus and Hexisopus is the presence of well-developed spines on the pedipalps of Chelypus. Its subterranean way of life makes the family extremely difficult to study.

Distribution

The family Hexisopodidae Pocock 1897 is endemic mainly in South Africa and Namibia (but also in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana).[3]

Phylogeny

The current phylogeny of Solifugae is lacking in any subordinal or superfamilial arrangement and is largely based on the scheme put forward by Carl Friedrich Roewer in 1934, relying on highly variable characters at both genus and species level. Roewer's system has been challenged by various taxonomists and authors.[4]

  • C. barberi Purcell 1902 (=Chelypus macronyx Hewitt 1919) - Northern Cape, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia - "On some South African Arachnida belonging to the orders of Scorpions, Pedipalpi and Solifugae". Annals of the South African Museum, vol. 2, p. 137-225
  • C. lennoxae Hewitt 1912 (=Chelypus coatoni Lawrence, 1966) - Upington and Namibia
  • C. hirsti Hewitt 1915 (=Chelypus kalaharicus Lawrence, 1949)(=Chelypus wuehlischi Roewer 1941) - Northern Cape, Gobabis, Namibia and Botswana
  • C. shortridgei Hewitt 1931 - Kavango, Namibia
  • C. macroceras Roewer 1933 (=Siloanea macroceras Roewer, 1933)[5]
  • C. lawrencei Wharton 1981 (=Siloanea eberlantzi Roewer, 1941) - Luderitz, Namibia[6][7]

Bibliography
  • Bibliography
  • "Catalogue of the Smaller Arachnid Orders of the World" - Mark S Harvey (Csiro Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, 2003) ISBN 0 643 06805 8
  • "The Arachnid Fauna of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park - A Revision of the Species of "Mole Solifuges" of the genus Chelypus, Purcell, 1901" - Bruno H. Lamoral ("Koedoe" 16: 83-102 (1973))

References
  1. "Genus Chelypus". www.solpugid.com.
  2. "Hexisopodidae". www.solpugid.com.
  3. Harvey, Mark S. (2003). Catalogue of the Smaller Arachnid Orders of the World: Amblypygi, Uropygi, Schizomida, Palpigradi, Ricinulei and Solifugae. Csiro Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 9780643068056.
  4. Klann, Anja E.; Bird, Tharina L.; Talarico, Giovanni (May 1, 2011). "Ultrastructural Characterization of Hexisopus Psammophilus (Arachnida: Solifugae: Hexisopodidae) Spermatozoa in Comparison to Other Solifuge Spermatozoal Traits". Journal of Arachnology. 39 (2): 280–286. doi:10.1636/CB10-94.1. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09 – via HighBeam.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-10-13. Retrieved 2013-09-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2013-09-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Lamoral". koedoe.co.za.
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