Cretoperipatus in the context of "Onychophora"

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⭐ Core Definition: Cretoperipatus

Cretoperipatus burmiticus is an extinct species of velvet worm known from Burmese amber. It is the sole member of the genus Cretoperipatus. This animal lived in what is now Myanmar's Kachin State during the Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous. When first discovered, the back of Cretoperipatus was misinterpreted as its the front. This led to multiple incorrect interpretations of the animal's anatomy, something only realized 14 years later. Cretoperipatus is known from several specimens that show a variety of sizes, ages, and levels of preservation. One fossil is exceptionally preserved, allowing detailed analysis of its morphology and coloration.

Cretoperipatus had 22 pairs of legs and was brown with a lighter underbelly. It also had multiple types of dermal papillae (small bumps on its cuticle) found across the body. The animal's head possessed a pair of antennae, two well-developed ocelli (a type of simple eye), a pair of slime papillae, a pair of frontal organs, and also preserved the structure of its internal jaws. The trunk preserved traces of its preventral and ventral organs as well as the genital pad. On its legs, Cretoperipatus had multiple spinous pads and a foot with a pair of claws. Depending on the pair, the number and structure of spinous pads differ.

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👉 Cretoperipatus in the context of Onychophora

Onychophora /ɒnɪˈkɒfərə/ (from Ancient Greek: ονυχής, onyches, "claws"; and φέρειν, pherein, "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (for their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus /pəˈrɪpətəs/ (after the first described genus, Peripatus), is a phylum of elongate, soft-bodied, many-legged animals. In appearance they have variously been compared to worms with legs, caterpillars, and slugs. They prey upon other invertebrates, which they catch by ejecting an adhesive slime. Approximately 200 species of velvet worms have been described, although the true number is likely to be much greater.

The two extant families of velvet worms are Peripatidae and Peripatopsidae. They show a peculiar distribution, with the peripatids being predominantly equatorial and tropical, while the peripatopsids are all found south of the equator. It is the only phylum within Animalia that is wholly endemic to terrestrial environments, at least among extant members. Velvet worms are generally considered close relatives of the Arthropoda and Tardigrada, with which they form the proposed taxon Panarthropoda. This makes them of palaeontological interest, as they can help reconstruct the ancestral arthropod. Only two fossil species are confidently assigned as onychophorans: Antennipatus from the Late Carboniferous, and Cretoperipatus from the Late Cretaceous, the latter belonging to Peripatidae. In modern zoology, they are known for their mating behaviours and for some species bearing live young.

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