Callipodida Explained

Callipodida is an order of millipedes containing around 130 species, many characterized by crests or ridges.

Description

Callipodida are long and narrow millipedes, up to in length with 40-60 body segments. A dorsal groove is present running down the mid-line of the body, and many species are ornamented with longitudinal crests or ridges.^{[1] [2]} Sexually mature males possess a single pair of gonopods, consisting of the modified anterior leg pair of the 7th body segment, and carried concealed within a pouch.^{[2] [3]}

Distribution

Callipodida occurs in North America, Europe, west Asia, southern China and Southeast Asia.^[4]

Classification

The living (extant) Callipodida are classified into three suborders, seven families, and approximately 130 species.^[5] The genus Sinocallipus, which constitutes the suborder Sinocallipodidea, is thought to be the most primitive, and a sister group to all other callipodans.^[6] A fourth, extinct, suborder was described in 2019 to accommodate Burmanopetalum inexpectatum, a 99 million-year-old specimen found in Burmese amber.^[7]

Suborder Callipodidea

Suborder Schizopetalidea

• Abacionidae
• Caspiopetalidae
• Dorypetalidae
• Paracortinidae
• Schizopetalidae

Suborder Sinocallipodidea

• Sinocallipodidae

Suborder Burmanopetalidea

• Burmanopetalidae

Notes and References

1. Web site: Diagnostic features of Millipede Orders. Milli-PEET Identification Tables. The Field Museum, Chicago. 25 October 2013. 30 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201130080602/https://www.fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/Identification_Table_1.pdf. dead.
2. Shelley. Rowland M.. Centipedes and Millipedes with Emphasis on North American Fauna. The Kansas School Naturalist. 1999. 45. 3. 1–16. 2013-11-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20161112025334/http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v45n3-march1999/. 2016-11-12. dead.
3. Stoev, P.. Sierwald, P.. Billey, A.. 2008. An annotated world catalogue of the millipede order Callipodida (Arthropoda: Diplopoda). Zootaxa. 1706. 1–50. 10.11646/zootaxa.1706.1.1.
4. Web site: Biogeography of Millipede Orders. Milli-PEET Identification Tables. The Field Museum, Chicago. 25 October 2013. 23 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023173141/http://fieldmuseum.org/sites/default/files/Identification_Table_2.pdf. dead.
5. Book: Shear, W.. Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844 . Animal biodiversity: an outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness. 2011. Zootaxa. 3148 . 978-1-86977-850-7. 159–164. 10.11646/zootaxa.3148.1.32. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt03148p164.pdf. Zhang, Z.-Q..
6. Stoev. Pavel. Enghoff, Henrik. A review of the millipede genus Sinocallipus Zhang, 1993 (Diplopoda: Callipodida: Sinocallipodidae), with notes on gonopods monotony vs. peripheral diversity in millipedes. ZooKeys. 2011. 90. 10.3897/zookeys.90.1291. 13–34. 21594105. 3084490. free.
7. Stoev . Pavel . Moritz . Leif . Wesener . Thomas . Dwarfs under dinosaur legs: a new millipede of the order Callipodida (Diplopoda) from Cretaceous amber of Burma . ZooKeys . 2019 . 841 . 79–96 . 10.3897/zookeys.841.34991 . 31148918 . 6529722. free .