Molecular Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of Myriapoda

Myriapoda encompasses four terrestrial classes—Chilopoda (centipedes), Diplopoda (millipedes), Symphyla and Pauropoda—whose evolutionary relationships were long inferred from morphology alone. Over the past two decades, molecular phylogenetics has transformed this picture by analysing mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences to resolve deep splits and reveal hidden lineages. Integrative frameworks now combine genetic markers with detailed morphometrics and ecological data to delimit species, uncover cryptic diversity and test the monophyly of higher taxa. Such studies have redefined genera, clarified species boundaries and recalibrated divergence times back to the early Palaeozoic. These developments enhance global biodiversity assessments, inform conservation priorities for endemic and endangered taxa, and illuminate the evolutionary origins of traits such as venom delivery in centipedes and chemical defence in millipedes.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent work has applied an integrative taxonomy paradigm to a medically and ecologically important centipede genus. By combining cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences with refined morphological measurements, researchers delineated fourteen distinct species, including the description of a novel species from a subtropical region. This study demonstrated close correspondence between traditional diagnostic characters and molecular clades, confirming that integrated datasets can resolve taxonomic ambiguities and support robust species delimitations even in groups long considered well known.

Molecular Phylogenetics and Taxonomy of Myriapoda publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of myriapoda across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Myriapoda: A subphylum of terrestrial arthropods including centipedes, millipedes, symphylans and pauropods.

Molecular phylogenetics: The reconstruction of evolutionary relationships using DNA or protein sequence comparisons.

Taxonomy: The science of naming, defining and classifying organisms into hierarchical groups.

Monophyly: A grouping of organisms that includes an ancestor and all its descendants, reflecting a single evolutionary origin.

DNA barcoding: A standardised approach to species identification using short, diagnostic gene regions, typically mitochondrial COI.

Integrative taxonomy: An approach that combines multiple lines of evidence—molecular, morphological and ecological—to delimit and describe species.

References

1. Taxonomy and Identification of the Genus Scolopendra in China Using Integrated Methods of External Morphology and Molecular Phylogenetics. Scientific Reports (2017).
2. The Centipede Genus Scolopendra in Mainland Southeast Asia: Molecular Phylogenetics, Geometric Morphometrics and External Morphology as Tools for Species Delimitation. PLOS ONE (2015).
3. Phylogeny of Lithobiidae Newport, 1844, with emphasis on the megadiverse genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Myriapoda, Chilopoda). Cladistics (2020).
4. Molecular-based estimate of species number, phylogenetic relationships and divergence times for the genus Stenotaenia (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha) in the Italian region. ZooKeys (2015).