Diphasconinae Dastych, 1992

Gąsiorek, Piotr, Blagden, Brian, Morek, Witold & Michalczyk, Łukasz, 2024, What is a ‘ strong’ synapomorphy? Redescriptions of Murray’s type species and descriptions of new taxa challenge the systematics of Hypsibiidae (Eutardigrada: Parachela), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (1), pp. 1-63 : 5

Subfamily Diphasconinae Dastych, 1992

The phylogenetic position of Diphascon greveni Dastych, 1984 among the Diphasconinae ( Fig. 2) further undermines the diagnosis of this group, which had previously been challenged by the inclusion of taxa lacking a DABT ( Tumanov and Tsvetkova 2023, Zawierucha et al. 2023). Diphascon should group species with an apodeme according to its last broad diagnosis (Pilato 1987, Bertolani et al. 2014), although its morphology is diversified among species currently classified within this genus ( Fig. 3). The type species of Diphascon , Diphascon chilenense Plate, 1888 , and members of the Diphascon pingue group ( Pilato and Binda 1997 /8, 1999) have a disparate pharyngeal apparatus (short, rodshaped, or granular macroplacoids; Fig. 4) and claw morphology (minute claws with smooth bases and no bars) with respect to D. greveni , thus highlighting the artificial nature of the current definition of Diphascon Plate, 1888 ( Tumanov and Tsvetkova 2023).