@article {1414, title = {Electrocambalidae fam.~nov., a new family of Cambalidea from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida)}, journal = {European Journal of Taxonomy}, volume = {755}, year = {2021}, month = {17/06/2021}, pages = {22-46}, abstract = {

A new family, Electrocambalidae fam.\ nov. of the suborder Cambalidea is described from Cretaceous Burmese amber based on two new genera, Electrocambala gen.\ nov. and Kachincambala gen.\ nov. with four new species, Electrocambala ornata gen. et sp.\ nov., E.\ cretacea gen. et sp.\ nov., Kachincambala muelleri gen. et sp.\ nov. and K.\ distorta gen. et sp.\ nov. The specimens are described combining classical light microscopy with drawings and photography, and modern micro-computed tomography (\μCT). Morphological characters otherwise obscured are examined and visualized by creating volume renderings and 3D-segmentations from \μCT data. Electrocambalidae fam.\ nov. is characterized by the following character combination: (1) a forward shift of leg pair 3, resulting in an apparently legless 3rd body ring, (2) presence of metazonital setae, and (3) extensive pilosity on the head. Although some of these characters are shared with other Juliformia they are unique in this combination. The described fossils are the oldest and first Mesozoic Spirostreptida and Cambalidea known and ca 70 million years older than previous records of the group.

}, keywords = {Evolution, fossil, gonopods, micro-CT, Myanmar}, issn = {2118-9773}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2021.755.1397}, url = {https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/1397}, author = {Moritz, Leif and Wesener, Thomas} } @article {1049, title = {First steps toward suctorial feeding in millipedes: Comparative morphology of the head of the Platydesmida (Diplopoda: Colobognatha)}, journal = {Invertebrate Biology}, year = {2021}, month = {04/02/2021}, pages = {1-21}, abstract = {

Although most millipedes (Diplopoda) show a biting\–chewing feeding mode, representatives of the so-called Colobognatha (Platydesmida, Polyzoniida, Siphonocryptida, Siphonophorida), with their more or less reduced mouthparts, are assumed to have evolved a suctorial feeding mode, which enables them to exploit food sources like algal film and fungi hyphae. The Platydesmida are viewed as the key taxon for the understanding of mouthpart adaptations in Colobognatha, as their mouthpart elements still closely resemble those of biting\–chewing millipedes. Studies of the skeletomuscular system of the Platydesmida are rare, impeding further understanding of the mouthpart evolution in millipedes. To overcome this impediment in the understanding of millipede evolution, we study the internal morphology of the head in specimens from four genera of Platydesmida: Brachycybe lecontii, Dolistenus spp., Gosodesmus claremontus, and Pseudodesmus spp. Although all Platydesmida show similarly structured skeletal elements and accompanying musculature, they are distinct from all other Diplopoda. Their head lacks eyes and organs of T\öm\ösv\áry, and is pyriform and posteriorly bulging, overlapping the collum. The narrow mandibles are hidden underneath the broad genae. A previously described gnathochilarial postmentum is absent. Muscle attachment sites, such as the transverse mandibular tendon and the median septum, are reduced. The strong modifications of the head capsule, mandibles, and musculature limit the movability of the mandible for biting\–chewing motions based on simulations of possible gape angles. Platydesmida likely show a scraping and slurping feeding mode, which is facilitated by the comparably well-developed pharyngeal dilator muscles. We suggest that the Platydesmida show an intermediate state between the biting\–chewing millipedes and the other suctorially feeding Colobognatha.

}, keywords = {Functional morphology, mandible, micro-CT, musculature, tentorium}, issn = {1077-8306}, doi = {10.1111/ivb.12312}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ivb.12312}, author = {Moritz, Leif and Blanke, Alexander and Hammel, J{\"o}rg U. and Wesener, Thomas} } @article {441, title = {An apparently non-swinging tentorium in the Diplopoda (Myriapoda): comparative morphology of the tentorial complex in giant pill-millipedes (Sphaerotheriida)}, journal = {ZooKeys}, volume = {741}, year = {2018}, pages = {77-91}, abstract = {

The presence of a swinging tentorium is a key apomorphy of Myriapoda, but this character has been studied in detail in only few species. Here the tentorium, i.e., the peristomatic skeleton of the preoral chamber, is comparatively studied in three species of the millipede order Sphaerotheriida Brandt, 1833. Since dissections of the fragile tentorial components proved to be difficult, despite the large head size, they were analysed mainly in situ via micro-computed tomography. Our results confirm previous observations of large differences in the tentorial construction in the giant pill-millipedes compared to chilognathan diplopods. The tentorium of Sphaerotheriida consists of a curved, plate-like epipharyngeal bar with distal projections, an elongate and thin hypopharyngeal bar, and a plate-like triangular posterior process; a transverse bar is absent. Only seven muscles attach at the tentorium in giant pill-millipedes, including two antennal muscles and two muscles of the gnathochilarium. Within the order Sphaerotheriida, the composition of the tentorium and its muscular equipment seems to be conserved, except for some variability in the shape of the epipharyngeal bar. As the transverse bar has been considered essential for the mobility of the tentorium in myriapods, its absence in Sphaerotheriida may indicate that their tentorium is not capable of performing a swing. Loss of tentorial mobility may also pertain to the order Glomerida Brandt, 1833, inferred here from the absence of a posterior process. An apparently immobile tentorium in Glomerida and Sphaerotheriida can straightforwardly be correlated with transformations of the head related to their ability of volvation. The different transformations of the tentorium, here hypothesised to cause immobility, may support current assumptions that the ability of volvation evolved convergently in Glomerida and Sphaerotheriida. This conclusion, however, still requires more detailed studies of the head anatomy in Glomerida and Glomeridesmida Cook, 1895.

}, keywords = {3D-reconstruction, Arthrosphaeridae, micro-CT, swinging tentorium, volvation}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.741.21909}, author = {Moritz, Leif and Wesener, Thomas and Koch, Markus} }