''Opisthopatus roseus'' is a 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

Peripatopsidae Peripatopsidae is one of the two living velvet worm families. Description The Peripatopsidae exhibit relatively many characteristics that are perceived as original or "primitive" with respect to the Peripatidae. The number of leg pairs in this ...

family. As traditionally defined, this species is rose pink with 18 pairs of legs. Known as the pink velvet worm, it is found only in the

Weza Forest The Weza Forest is also known as the Weza-Ngele Forest and is situated near Harding, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This is a large Mistbelt Forest which has long been exploited for timber. The forest has been fragmented and reduced in size over man ...

, a

Mistbelt Forest Areas of forest which grow in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa mostly on south facing slopes in higher rainfall areas, and along the humid coastal areas. Different types of forest can be identified by their species composition which depends mostly o ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Specimens have been found on the forest floor amongst leaf litter, beneath, and within fallen logs.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis, however, casts doubt on the traditional species delimitation based on

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

and militates in favor of a broader species definition based on a genetic clade instead. Phylogenetic results indicate that '' O. herbertorum'', described as uniformly white with 17 leg pairs, is a junior synonym of ''O. roseus''. This genetic clade also includes some velvet worms with 16 leg pairs that would traditionally be considered specimens of '' O. cinctipes''. This broader understanding of ''O. roseus'' features intraspecific variation in leg number, ranging from 16 to 18 pairs, includes a range of colors from blood red or indigo to pearl white, and entails a broader geographic distribution in the southern part of the

Drakensberg Mountains The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...

Kwa-Zulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

province of South Africa.

Conservation

The pink velvet worm was previously considered extinct but is now listed as Critically Endangered by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and degradation are thought to be the cause of the species' decline.

Conservation

References

Further reading