Onychophorans are carnivorous, terrestrial invertebrates that occur in tropical and temperate
forests of the Southern Hemisphere and around the Equator. Together with tardigrades …

Although the onychophoran jaw blades are believed to be derivatives of foot claws, serial
homology of these structures has not been demonstrated. To shed light on the evolutionary …

Background The so-called ventral organs are amongst the most enigmatic structures in
Onychophora (velvet worms). They were described as segmental, ectodermal thickenings in …

Onychophorans use a unique hunting and defense strategy, which involves the ejection of
an adhesive slime secretion produced by a pair of specialized glands. So far, a comparative …

are terrestrial, soft-bodied, many-legged carnivores. They form the phylum Onychophora
('claw bearers'—each of their many limbs terminates in paired claws). Velvet worms range in …

We present here a description of early development in the onychophoran Euperipatoides
kanangrensis with emphasis on processes that are ambiguously described in older …

A revision of evolutionary relationships of the Arthropoda has provided fresh impetus to
tracing the origins of the nervous system of this group of animals: other members of the …

Background Due to their phylogenetic position as one of the closest arthropod relatives,
studies of the organisation of the nervous system in onychophorans play a key role for …

Abstract Onychophorans, or “velvet worms”(Fig. 4.1), are multi-legged, terrestrial
invertebrates that inhabit decaying logs, soil, and leaf litter of tropical and temperate forests …

The evolutionary position of this phylum has been discussed by many authors (for
references see Robson 1964, Lavallard 1972). The presence of a cuticle shed by ecdysis …