Epinannolenidea, Chamberlin, 1922

Shelley, Rowland M. & Golovatch, Sergei I., 2011, Atlas of Myriapod Biogeography. I. Indigenous Ordinal and Supra-Ordinal Distributions in the Diplopoda: Perspectives on Taxon Origins and Ages, and a Hypothesis on the Origin and Early Evolution of the Class, Insecta Mundi 2011 (158), pp. 1-134 : 36

Suborder Epinannolenidea ( Fig. 32 -33)

Primarily a Neotropical, Gondwanan taxon, where it occupies a large area and a detached one in Chile, Epinannolenidea also inhabit both major islands of New Zealand, and small, isolated regions in the southeastern US (Tennessee and Alabama, Choctellidae ) ( Hoffman 1965a, 1999; Appendix), Bermuda (presumed indigenous), the Republic of South Africa, and three coastal patches of Australia. Jeekel (1985) mapped the distribution and ( Jeekel 2004a) included the suborder in his bibliographic catalog of the “Cambaloidea,” which summarized localities.

While again excluding the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos, we project Epinannolenidea for all the Greater and Lesser Antilles except Jamaica ( Fig. 32 -33); they are known from Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, and Barbados, to which we now add (Appendix) St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, and Barbuda. Works with localities and/or species listings since Mauriès (1980a) and Hoffman (1999) include Hispaniola (both Haiti and Dominican Republic) ( Pérez-Asso and Pérez-Gelabert 2001, Pérez-Gelabert 2008) and Brazil ( Trajano et al. 2000; Adis et al. 2002; Golovatch et al. 2005). The large Neotropical area traverses central Costa Rica, encompasses Cocos Island, and slices through southern Peru and southwestern Bolivia north of the Atacama Desert. Mauriès (1974a) mapped Neotropical occurrences but missed some Peruvian records, so we put the boundary south of his localities to include all records in Chamberlin (1955) and Kraus (1954, 1955, 1957, 1959). Distributions in Argentina ( Pseudonannolenidae ) and Chile ( Iulomorphidae ) are the same as Spirostreptida s. l.; Chilean localities extend from Valparaiso and Santiago, in the north, to the Golfo de Aucud, in the south ( Chamberlin (1957). The suborder’s hemisphere biogeography indicates origin in South America and spread onto the “proto-Antillean Arc” (excluding Jamaica) before it split from the present-day Guianas/northeastern Brazil coastline area of Gondwana II in the Late Cretaceous. Present concepts place Choctellidae in Epinannolenidea ( Hoffman 1980 a, Jeekel 1985, Shelley 2003a), and Shelley and Whitehead (1986) suggested that they may represent the former northern component of a once contiguous mosaic complex (Fig. 33). Paleogeography, however, shows that continuity was extremely ancient if it ever existed, which we now question with no evidence that the Cumberland Plateau region of the US was ever directly connected to South America/”proto-Antilles.” Thus, from milliped biogeography and knowledge of tectonic movements, this placement warrants revisiting; Choctellidae substantially antedate modern epinannolenideans and truly constitute a mystery taxon, tucked away in the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee and Alabama and unrelated to anything remotely proximate. It is clearly ancient and the sole surviving relict of something, but what? Perhaps it is a remnant of the original radiation on Laurentia after collision with Baltica+Avalonia in the early Silurian.

Jeekel’s map (1985) of Iulomorphidae remains reasonably accurate for Africa and Australia, although Edward and Harvey (2010) expanded the area in Western Australia. In Africa, Epinannolenidea (Iulomorphidae) are restricted to Lesotho and the southern periphery of the Republic of South Africa ( Hamer 1998, 1999). Korsós and Johns (2009) recorded the taxa from New Zealand and mapped occurrences on both major islands. With generalized records from Northern Territory, South Australia, and “Upper Western Australia” ( Black 1997), the taxa are still known from only three definite areas of the continent – southwestern Western Australia, Perth vicinity to east of Esperance ( Edward and Harvey 2010); along the Queensland coast from near Cairns to Brisbane; and northeastern Victoria and Tasmania. We join the last two with New Zealand.

Figures

Figure 32. Known (solid lines) and projected (dashed lines) distributions of the Suborder Epinannolenidea. Parameters are as in Fig. 1, except the question marks in Australia represent general records from Northern Territory, South Australia, and northern Western Australia (Black 1997).