| Peripatidae
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Onychophora |
| Family: | Peripatidae Audouin & Milne-Edwards, 1832 |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
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| Global range of Onychophora
extant Peripatidae
fossils
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Peripatidae is a family of velvet worms.[1] The oldest putative representatives of the family herald from Burmese amber dated to the mid-Cretaceous, around 100 million years ago, with representatives from Dominican and Baltic amber attesting to a broader distribution in the Palaeogene / Neogene; molecular variability suggests that the family's crown group may have arisen in the early Mesozoic.[2]
The Peripatidae exhibit a range of derivative features. They are longer, on average, than the Peripatopsidae and also have more leg pairs. The number of legs in the Peripatidae varies within species as well as among species[3] and ranges from 19 pairs (inTyphloperipatus williamsoni[4]) to 43 pairs (inPlicatoperipatus jamaicensis[5]).[6][7] The gonopore is always between the penultimate leg pair.[6] There are no known oviparous species—the overwhelming majority, including all the Neotropical Peripatidae, are viviparous with females that develop a placenta to provide the growing embryo with nutrients.[8] The Asian genera Typhloperipatus and Eoperipatus, however, exhibit lecithotrophic ovoviviparity; that is, their females do not develop any placenta and instead retain yolky eggs in their uteri to supply nourishment.[8]
The Peripatidae, also known as equatorial velvet worms,[9] are restricted to the tropical and subtropical zones; in particular, they inhabit Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, Gabon, Northeast India, and Southeast Asia.[10]
Neopatida is a monophyletic lineage within the Peripatidae, comprising all peripatids except the few found outside of the Americas.[11] The excluded peripatid genera are the southeast Asian †Cretoperipatus and Eoperipatus, the African Mesoperipatus, and the northeast Indian Typhloperipatus.
The family consists of the following genera:
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Media related to Peripatidae at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Peripatidae at Wikispecies| Peripatidae |
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Authority control databases: National  |
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