Consisting of more than 3,100 species, centipedes (class Chilopoda) are an ancient clade of soil ecosystem predators with a 420 million-year evolutionary history. Little is known about the intra-specific genetic diversity of centipedes, despite their striking variation in traits.
Leveraging recent growth in publicly available DNA sequence data, researchers compiled an exhaustive database of Chilopoda sequences from dozens of published studies. They also retrieved sequences from the phylogatR database, matching GenBank accessions and BOLD entries with georeferenced specimens in GBIF.
Initial analysis of their dataset, consisting of 1,245 mitochondrial DNA sequences representing 128 species, revealed a broad geographical distribution that spans more than 100 degrees latitude. Members of the Scolopendromorpha order hailed from mainly tropical origins, while Lithobiomorpha predominated in temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere.
Among centipedes, several traits correlated positively with high diversity. As such, smaller-bodied, non-blind species from lower latitudes had the greatest values of genetic diversity.
Overall, Chilopoda genetic diversity fell at the higher end of the spectrum compared not only to other arthropods but also to vertebrates. The authors suggested this finding might be related to the long evolutionary history and low dispersal ability of the class.