Abstract
The Onychophora are a relic taxon which diverged early in the arthropod radiation and have shown little morphological differentiation for several hundred million years. Jamaica has the richest onychophoran fauna in the Caribbean and although only five species are known, they represent 7 per cent of the global fauna. The present study involved an analysis of allozyme and mtDNA diversity in Plicatoperipatus jamaicensis, an endemic species which is the commonest onychophoran on the island. The work showed that P. jamaicensis includes at least two different species. These taxa are largely allopatric, but co-occur at some sites without interbreeding. Allozyme and mtDNA analyses suggest their divergence in the early Pleistocene, following the Pliocene origin of the Plicatoperipatus lineage from a Macroperipatus ancestor. Allozyme variation in both species was unusually low, but sufficient to confirm that each taxon reproduces sexually. Mitochondrial DNA diversity was abundant in both species and indicated that local aggregations did not consist of kin groups. The mitochondrial genomes of both species were small enough to suggest that their organizations are unusual.
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Hebert, P., Billington, N., Finston, T. et al. Genetic variation in the onychophoran Plicatoperipatus jamaicensis. Heredity 67, 221–229 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.83
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.83