Diphascon alpinum Murray, 1906a

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 22-23

48. Diphascon alpinum Murray, 1906a sensu lato [T]

Diphascon alpinum Murray (Murray 1913)

Diphascon alpinum J. Murray 1906 ( Rahm 1936)

Diphascon alpinum ( Ramløv & Kristensen 1985)

Terra typica : Scotland (Europe)

Israel and Palestinian National Authority:

• 31°48′N, 35°10′E; 600 m asl: Judean Mountains, W of Jerusalem, Motza, extreme arid or semi-arid climate. Rahm (1936) • 31°46′N, 35°10′E; 650 m asl: Judean Mountains, Jerusalem, Ein Kerem, extreme arid or semi-arid climate. Rahm (1936) • 31°43′N, 35°17′E; 600 m asl: Judean Mountains, al-Ubeidiya, Monastery Deir Dosi (Monastery of St. Theodosius), extreme arid or semi-arid climate. Rahm (1936)

• 31°42′N, 35°12′E; 800 m asl: Judean Mountains , Bethlehem, extreme arid or semi-arid climate. Rahm (1936) Morocco:

• 32°25′N, 05°13′W; 1,750 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, S of Azrou , cedar forest, forest glade, moss on limestone boulders in the forest glade Ramløv & Kristensen (1985)

Uganda:

• 01°22′N, 32°17′E: Undefined locality. Murray (1913)

Record numbers. Israel and Palestinian National Authority: 4, Morocco: 1, Uganda: 1; total: 6.

Remarks. The alpinum group is a complex of very similar, difficult to discriminate, species ( Pilato & Binda 1998). The nominal species is considered rare and probably Palaearctic ( Pilato & Binda 1998). All African reports are questionable and require further examination.