Saltational evolution of trunk segment number in centipedes.
Saltational changes in segment numbers have likely occurred in arthropod evolution, especially if mechanisms of segment formation involve a multiplicative phase, as recently suggested in the evo-devo literature. Here we provide for the first time evidence of major phenotypic saltation in the evolution of segment number in a lineage of centipedes, with a newly discovered species of scolopender having segment numbers duplicated with respect to its closest relatives, and to all the remaining 700+ species of Scolopendromorpha known to date.
Minelli
Alessandro
A
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58 B, Padova I-35131, Italy. alessandro.minelli@unipd.it
Chagas-Júnior
Amazonas
A
Edgecombe
Gregory D
GD
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D007313:Insecta / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny