Mecistocephalus heteropus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mecistocephalus heteropus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Chilopoda |
| Order: | Geophilomorpha |
| Family: | Mecistocephalidae |
| Genus: | Mecistocephalus |
| Species: | M. heteropus |
| Binomial name | |
| Mecistocephalus heteropus Humbert, 1865 | |
Mecistocephalus heteropus is a species of soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae.[1][2] This centipede is found in Sri Lanka.[1][3][4] This species features 49 pairs of legs and can reach 85 mm in length.[5][6]
This species was first described in 1865 by the Swiss naturalist Aloïs Humbert based on type material found in the Pundel-Oya valley in Sri Lanka.[5][7] This centipede is endemic to Sri Lanka.[1][3][4] In Sri Lanka, this species has also been recorded in the village of Pattipola and at an elevation of 7,000 feet on the Horton Plains.[6][8]
Taxonomy
Humbert originally described this centipede as a new species under the name Mecistocephalus heteropus.[5] In 1919, the Italian myriapodologist Filippo Silvestri deemed this centipede to be a subspecies of the species Lamnonyx punctifrons.[6] In 1929, the Austrian myriapodologist Carl Attems placed this species and its subspecies in the genus Mecistocephalus instead.[8] Authorities now deem Lamnonyx to be a junior synonym of Mecistocephalus and accept M. heteropus as a valid species.[9][1][2][3]
