Zoosphaerium Explained
Zoosphaerium is a genus of giant pill millipedes endemic to Madagascar. Some species within this genus express island gigantism.[1] The largest of the known species of giant pill millipede known is Zoosphaerium neptunus,[2] which is capable of growing to lengths of 90 mm (3.5 in).
Distribution and habitat
Zoosphaerium is restricted to the island of Madagascar.[3] Madagascar is a hotspot for biodiversity and localized endemism, as a result some species occur sympatrically as microendemics.[4] Species within the genus Zoosphaerium can be found living amongst damp leaf litter in forest and jungle habitats.
Species list
Below is a list of all 74 known species:[5]
- Zoosphaerium actaeon (White, 1859)
- Zoosphaerium album Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium alluaudi (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium amabile Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium ambatovaky Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium ambrense Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium analavelona Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium anale (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
- Zoosphaerium anomalum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium arborealis Wesener & Sierwald, 2005
- Zoosphaerium aureum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium bambusoides Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
- Zoosphaerium bemanevika Sagorny & Wesener, 2017
- Zoosphaerium bilobum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium blandum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium broelemanni Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium campanulatum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium coquerelianum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium corystoides Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium crassum (Butler, 1878)
- Zoosphaerium darthvaderi Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
- Zoosphaerium denticulatum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium discolor Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium elegans (Lenz, 1881)
- Zoosphaerium endemicum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium fisheri Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium fraternarium Jeekel, 1999
- Zoosphaerium glabrum (Butler, 1873)
- Zoosphaerium haackeri Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium heleios Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
- Zoosphaerium hippocastanum (Gervais, 1847)
- Zoosphaerium ignotum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium immane (Karsch, 1881)
- Zoosphaerium isalo Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium lambertoni (Brolemann, 1922)
- Zoosphaerium lamprinum (Butler, 1878)
- Zoosphaerium latum (Butler, 1872)
- Zoosphaerium libidinosum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
- Zoosphaerium masoala Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium micropilligerum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium minutus Sagorny & Wesener, 2017
- Zoosphaerium mitoho Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium muscorum Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
- Zoosphaerium neptunus (Butler, 1872)
- Zoosphaerium nigrum Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium piligerum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
- Zoosphaerium platylabum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
- Zoosphaerium priapus (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1897)
- Zoosphaerium pseudoblandum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium pseudopiligerum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium pseudoplatylabum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium pseudopriapus Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium pulchellum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium pygidiale (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1902)
- Zoosphaerium reflexum (Brolemann, 1922)
- Zoosphaerium reticulatum (Butler, 1878)
- Zoosphaerium sakanum (Attems, 1910)
- Zoosphaerium silens Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium smaragdinum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium solitarium Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium spinopiligerum Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium stigmaticum (Butler, 1873)
- Zoosphaerium subreflexum Jeekel, 1999
- Zoosphaerium tainkintana Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium tampolo Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium testaceum (Olivier, 1792)
- Zoosphaerium tigrioculatum Wesener & Bespalova, 2010
- Zoosphaerium trichordum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium tsingy Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium villosum Wesener & Sierwald, 2005
- Zoosphaerium viridissimum Wesener, 2009
- Zoosphaerium voahangy Wesener & Sagorny, 2021
- Zoosphaerium voeltzkowianum (De Saussure & Zehntner, 1901)
- Zoosphaerium xerophilum Wesener, 2009
Notes and References
- Book: Acton, Q. Ashton . Issues in Life Sciences: Molecular Biology: . . 2012 . 9781464963483 . 2011 . 2906.
- Web site: Wesener . Thomas . Bespalova . Loulia . Sierwald . Petra . 2010-05-01 . Madagascar's Living Giants: Discovery of Five New Species of Endemic Giant Pill-Millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Arthrosphaeridae: Zoosphaerium) . 2022-10-26 . BioOne.
- Book: Bhat, Tariq Ahmad . Mutagenesis, Cytotoxicity and Crop Improvement - Revolutionizing Food Science . Cambridge Scholars Publishing . 2021 . 9781527564381 . 482.
- Web site: Sagorny . Christina . Wesener . Thomas . 2017-05-09 . Two new giant pill-millipede species of the genus Zoosphaerium endemic to the Bemanevika area in northern Madagascar (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Arthrosphaeridae). . 2022-10-26 . . 10.11646/zootaxa.4263.2.4.
- Web site: 2022-08-31 . Zoosphaerium Pocock, 1895 . 2022-08-31 . millibase.org.
