Chelypus ('clawfoot') is a genus of slow-moving, burrowing sunspiders confined to the deserts and arid regions of Southern Africa.[1] There are 6 known species.
They are readily separated from other Solifugae by an absence of claws on the fourth pair of legs.[2] Both Chelypus, and the related genus Hexisopus spend a large part of their existence underground, and their 2nd, 3rd and particularly 4th pair of legs are shortened and robust, and equipped with rake-like spines for digging.
Members of the family Hexisopodidae differ markedly in morphology from those of other Solifugae families - most patently in their fossorial rather than cursorial legs. Such extreme modifications often blur relationships with other taxa, and hexisopodid genealogy is no exception. The main external difference between Chelypus and Hexisopus is the presence of well-developed spines on the pedipalps of Chelypus. Its subterranean way of life makes the family extremely difficult to study.
The family Hexisopodidae Pocock 1897 is endemic mainly in South Africa and Namibia (but also in Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana).[3]
The current phylogeny of Solifugae is lacking in any subordinal or superfamilial arrangement and is largely based on the scheme put forward by Carl Friedrich Roewer in 1934, relying on highly variable characters at both genus and species level. Roewer's system has been challenged by various taxonomists and authors.[4]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) {{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Chelypus ('clawfoot') is a genus of slow-moving, burrowing sunspiders confined to the deserts and arid regions of Southern Africa. There are 6 known species.
