Geoplana

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Geoplana
Geoplana vaginuloides
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Platyhelminthes
Order: Tricladida
Family: Geoplanidae
Subfamily: Geoplaninae
Genus: Geoplana
Stimpson, 1857
Type species
Planaria vaginuloides
Darwin, 1844

Geoplana is a genus of land planarians from South America.

Taxonomic history[edit]

The genus Geoplana was erected in 1857 by William Stimpson and included most land planarians with several eyes distributed along the body.[1] Species with only two eyes were placed in the genus Rhynchodemus, while species with a crescent-shaped head were placed in Bipalium.

In the same year, apparently unaware of Stimpson's paper, the naturalist Max Schultze, based on published information and new species collected in Brazil by the naturalist Fritz Müller, also erected a genus named Geoplana, but included all land planarians in it.[2] However, Stimpson's system prevailed.

During most of the 20th century, many new land planarian species, mostly from Australia and South America, were placed in Geoplana. In 1955, Eudóxia Maria Froehlich defined that Geoplana vaginuloides would be the type-species of Geoplana, as it was the first species listed by Stimpson.[3]

In 1990, Robert E. Ogren and Masaharu Kawakatsu published a review of the classification of land planarians and divided Geoplana in four genera: Geoplana, Gigantea, Notogynaphallia and Pasipha. Geoplana retained all species with dorsal testes, a protrusible penis and a female canal entering the genital antrum dorsally. Species with ventral testes, without a protrusible penis or with a female canal entering the genital antrum ventrally were placed in other genera.[4]

During the 21st century, molecular studies revealed that Geoplana sensu Ogren & Kawakatsu was still heterogeneous. A study published in 2013 by Carbayo et al.,[5] based on molecular data, divided Geoplana in 6 genera: Geoplana, Barreirana, Cratera, Matuxia, Obama, and Paraba. Only three species remained as Geoplana,[6] along with several incertae sedis.

Current description[edit]

Currently, the genus Geoplana is characterized by having the features described by Ogren & Kawatasu (dorsal testes, a protrusible penis and a female canal entering the genital antrum dorsally) plus several others, such as a slender body with nearly parallel margins, a strongly convex dorsum, monolobulated eyes (i.e., simple and circular, with only one lobe), and a strong muscle tube around the intestine.[5][6]

Species[edit]

There are currently only thirteen species certainly belonging to Geoplana:

Also, there are several species currently considered incertae sedis:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Stimpson, W. (1857). Prodromus descriptionis animalium evertebratorum quæ in Expeditione ad Oceanum, Pacificum Septentrionalem a Republica Federata missa, Johanne Rodgers Duce, observavit er descripsit. Pars I. Turbellaria Dendrocœla. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 9:19-31.
  2. ^ Schultze, M. and Müller, F. (1857). Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Landplanarien. Abhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Halle. 4:61-74.
  3. ^ Froehlich, E. M. (1955). Sobre Espécies Brasileiras do Gênero Geoplana. Boletim da Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras da Universidade de São Paulo, Série Zoologia. 19:289-339.
  4. ^ Ogren, R. E. and Kawakatsu, M. (1990). Index to the species of the family Geoplanidae (Turbellaria, Tricladida, Terricola) Part I: Geoplaninae. Bulletin of Fujis Women's College. 29: 79-166.
  5. ^ a b Carbayo, F.; Álvarez-Presas, M.; Olivares, C. U. T.; Marques, F. P. L.; Froehlich, E. X. M.; Riutort, M. (2013). "Molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae (Platyhelminthes) challenges current classification: Proposal of taxonomic actions". Zoologica Scripta. 42 (5): 508. doi:10.1111/zsc.12019.
  6. ^ a b Almeida, A.L.; Marques, F.P.L.; Carbayo, F. (2019). "'Endless forms most beautiful': taxonomic revision of the planarian Geoplana vaginuloides (Darwin, 1844) and discovery of numerous congeners (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 185 (1): 1–65. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly022.
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