Chilognatha

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 : 15

Subclass Chilognatha (Fig. 2, 5)

The geography of Chilognatha ( Fig. 5 ) is also that of Diplopoda except for north Africa and Western Australia; additionally, this subclass is not known from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Instead of spreading southward into the Sahara, Chilognatha cuts across Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, heads into the Mediterranean, angles into the Benghazi region of coastal Libya, east of the Gulf of Sidra, then back into the Mediterranean again. Consequently, the northern Africa area south of this line in Diplopoda ( Fig. 1 ) is solely attributable to Penicillata. In Western Australia, the chilognath area in the Kimberley Region is exclusively interior, in contrast to that in Diplopoda as a whole ( Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Known (solid lines) and projected (dashed lines) indigenous distributions of the Diplopoda showing locations of significant fossils. The solid line in southern South America shows the extent of diplopod samplings and known occurrences, but we project the organisms for uninvestigated areas south of the southernmost records, in Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile, and Santa Cruz Prov., Argentina, the unsubstantiated record of the polyxenid from the last (Mauriès 1998), Propolyxenus patagonicus (Silvestri, 1903), being indicated by the question mark. Except for records from Kodiak Island, Alaska (Chordeumatida) (left arrow), the Hawaiian Islands (Cambalidea), and the Federal Republic of the Marshall Islands (Polyxenida) (right arrow), oceanic islands and archipelagos harboring ostensibly indigenous forms are grouped with the continent with apparent faunal affinity; the Cape Verde Islands are combined with both Africa and Europe because of dual affinities, Spirostreptidea and Glomerida/ Julida, respectively. Only a few records and samples, especially of Chilognatha, are available from the dotted areas in Africa and North America; no extant records and samples are available from those in Eurasia and South America. The southeast Asian area encircled by triangles is the only place where all 16 orders occur indigenously. Upright triangle, site of Archidesmus macnioli Peach, 1887, the oldest helminthomorph fossil, from Silurian deposits in Scotland; Star, site of the non-spinose oniscomorph pentazonian Carboniferous fossil at Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA; Inverted triangle, approximate location of Gobiulus sabulosus Dzik, 1975, the Cretaceous spirobolidan fossil in Mongolia; Asterisk, location of Protosilvestria sculpta, the Oligocene cambalidean fossil from Quercy, France (Mauriès 1992).

Figure 5-6. Distributions. 5)Known (solid lines) and projected (dashed lines) indigenous distributions of the Subclass Chilognatha showing the locations of significant fossils, parameters as in Fig. 1. It is essentially identical to that of the Infraclass Helminthomorpha (Fig. 14), the only difference being imperceptibly greater eastward expansion for Chilognatha on the southern coast of Western Australia. At present, this is the only place in the world where the Infraclass Pentazonia (Fig. 6) influences the overall distribution of a higher diplopod taxon. Upright triangle, site of Archidesmus macnioli Peach, 1887, the oldest helminthomorph fossil, from Silurian deposits in Scotland; Star, site of the non-spinose oniscomorph pentazonian Carboniferous fossil at Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA; Inverted triangle, approximate location of Gobiulus sabulosus Dzik, 1975, the Cretaceous spirobolidan fossil from Mongolia; Asterisk, location of Protosilvestria sculpta, the Oligocene cambalidean fossil in Quercy, France (Mauriès 1992). 6) Distribution of the Infraclass Pentazonia, which presently excludes the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The question mark represents the unconfirmed Oniscomorpha (Sphaerotheriida) record from Papua New Guinea (Attems 1943), and the arrow denotes the new Limacomorpha/Glomeridesmida locality in Fiji (Appendix). Star, site of the non-spinose oniscomorph Carboniferous fossil at Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.