Arachnids & Myriapods Codexery

Schizomida

Small arachnids with a whip-like tail and sensory front legs.

Last updated

There are approximately 400 species of sprickets worldwide.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. SubphylumChelicerata
  4. ClassArachnida
  5. OrderSchizomida

Named by Petrunkevitch, 1945

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Schizomida (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Field
Arachnology
Distribution
Subtropical and tropical regions globally

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

These arachnids are small and have a soft body, bearing a resemblance to whip scorpions.[2] Three distinct regions make up the prosoma, each shielded by a plate: a large protopeltidium, plus the smaller mesopeltidia and metapeltidia which are paired.[2] Flagella in females are composed of three or four segments, whereas males possess a flagellum with just one segment.[3] Only six legs are employed for walking by schizomids; the front two have been adapted to function as sensory organs.[4]

Just ahead of the sensory legs sit large, well-developed pedipalps that resemble pincers.[4] As a defensive reaction when threatened, the back legs are adapted for jumping.[4] True eyes are absent in schizomids, though certain species retain vestigial eyespots that can differentiate light from darkness.[5] Respiration occurs via one set of book lungs situated on the second abdominal segment.[5]

Schizomids inhabit tropical and subtropical regions across the globe, with populations recorded in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, numerous Pacific Islands, Central and South America, and Africa.[6]

What the specialist sources record

The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records Schizomida as an accepted order within the kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, class Arachnida.[7] GBIF holds 10,878 occurrence records for this taxon.[7] The Open Library edition record for ISBN 0195172345 lists "Assembling the Tree of Life" as published by Oxford University Press, USA, on June 25, 2004.[8] The Open Library edition record for ISBN 0030567475 lists "Invertebrate zoology" as published by Saunders College in 1980.[9]

References

  1. "Researchers count 13 new species of fanged arachnids in the Pilbara", Western Australian Museum, 2020-10-28. facts only, no text reused. museum.wa.gov.au
  2. Wikipedia, "Schizomida" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnes, Robert D., "Invertebrate Zoology", Holt-Saunders International, 1982, p. 615–617 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Schizomida" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Coddington, "Assembling the Tree of Life", Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 296–318; Kallal, "Patterns in schizomid flagellum shape from elliptical Fourier analysis", Scientific Reports, 2022-03-10 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Schizomida" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Humphreys, W.F., et al. (1989) The biology of Schizomus vinei (Chelicerata: Schizomida) in the caves of Cape Range, Western Australia. J. ZOol. Lond. 217: 177-2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Schizomida" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunlop, "Geological history and phylogeny of Chelicerata", Arthropod Structure & Development, 2010, p. 124–142; Di, "Homeosis in a scorpion supports a telopodal origin of pectines and components of the book lungs", BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2018, p. 73 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Schizomida" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; ; Zawierucha, "First record of the schizomid Stenochrus portoricensis (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae) in Poland, with DNA barcode data", Turkish Journal of Zoology, January 2013, p. 357–361; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Schizomida (taxon key 1186). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 0195172345 ("Assembling the Tree of Life"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Open Library record, ISBN 0030567475 ("Invertebrate zoology"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Schizomida (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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