''Eoperipatus butleri'' is a

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n species of

velvet worm Onychophora (from grc, ονυχής, , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (due to their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, '' Peripatus ...

in the Peripatidae

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Taxonomy

''Eoperipatus butleri'' was described by Richard Evans in 1901, from a single female specimen discovered by A. M. Butler in the Larut Hills of

West Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

. The generic name ''Eoperipatus'' is derived from an

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

combining form of ''ēṓs'', meaning "dawn", and ''peripatos'', meaning "walking about". The specific name ''butleri'' is in honour of its discoverer. Although some have suggested that ''E. butleri'' is a junior synonym of '' E. weldoni'', other authorities maintain that ''E. butleri'' is valid as a different species, citing the significant distance (over 300 km) between the type localities of these two species.

Description

The dorsal surface is dark brown with pale spots and a darker brown mid-dorsal line extending from the first pair of oncopods (legs) to the anus. The ventral surface is slightly lighter brown than the dorsal surface. The type specimen was 52 mm in length and 6 mm in width. The female of this species has 24 pairs of legs, but the male has only 22 leg pairs.

References

Onychophoran species Onychophorans of southeast Asia Animals described in 1901 {{Onychophora-stub