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Ooperipatellus
Sign in to saveOoperipatellus is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. These velvet worms are found in Australia and New Zealand. Species in this genus are oviparous. This genus was proposed by the German zoologist Hilke Ruhberg in 1985, with Ooperipatellus insignis designated as the type species. This genus is notable as the only one in which velvet worms have no more than 14 pairs of legs.
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- Phylogeny
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Ooperipatellus is a genus of velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. These velvet worms are found in Australia and New Zealand. Species in this genus are oviparous. This genus was proposed by the German zoologist Hilke Ruhberg in 1985, with Ooperipatellus insignis designated as the type species. This genus is notable as the only one in which velvet worms have no more than 14 pairs of legs.
== Description == Most species in this genus have 14 leg pairs, but O. nanus has only 13 pairs, the minimum number found in the phylum Onychophora. Velvet worms in this genus are also among the smallest known, with adults often only 10 to 20 mm long. Species in this genus range in size from O. nanus, which can be only 5 mm long, to O. nickmayeri, which can reach 60 mm in length.