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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 39(1)

Molecular phylogeny and systematic revision of the Brazilian species of Mastigoproctus Pocock, 1894 (Arachnida: Uropygi: Mastigoproctinae)

Daniel Castro-Pereira https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2955-8166 A * and Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão - travessa 14 #101, São Paulo, 05508-090, Brazil.

* Correspondence to: daniel.castro.pereira@usp.br

Handling Editor: Mark Harvey

Invertebrate Systematics 39, IS24068 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS24068
Submitted: 7 February 2024  Accepted: 18 November 2024  Published: 8 January 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.

Abstract

Uropygi is an order of arachnids commonly known as vinegaroons or whip-scorpions. So far, two genera are known to occur in Brazil: Thelyphonellus Pocock, 1894 and Mastigoproctus Pocock, 1894. We examined the morphology of 182 specimens of Brazilian Mastigoproctus and sequenced 42 specimens for phylogenetic analyses, using mitochondrial and nuclear molecular markers. Phylogenetic inference was performed under maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Our results suggest that the Brazilian species previously included in Mastigoproctus represent two different genera, with the following species and synonymies: the revalidated Amauromastigon Mello-Leitão, 1931, composed of A. maximus (Tarnani, 1889), comb. nov. (=Mastigoproctus annectens Werner, 1916, M. butleri Pocock, 1894 and M. perditus Mello-Leitão, 1931), and Heptatarsus gen. nov., composed of H. brasilianus (Koch, 1843), comb. nov. (=Mastigoprotus minensis Mello-Leitão, 1931) and H. custodioi sp. nov. Also, we urge caution when using certain morphological characters when describing uropygid taxa based on specimens in early developmental stages.

ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9EF06715-2BA1-4616-A801-2239DBE3DAB4

Keywords: Arachnida, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Cerrado, identification key, Mastigoproctinae, phylogeny, systematics, Uropygi, vinegaroons, whip-scorpions.

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