Rhodopotyphlus mitovi gen. et sp. nov., a new endogean millipede from the Western Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae)

Abstract

A new genus and species, Rhodopotyphlus mitovi gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Western Rhodopi Mts., south-central Bulgaria. According to its morphology combined with previously published molecular data, the new species is supposed to represent a basal lineage in the julid tribe Typhloiulini. Some assumptions concerning the early evolutionary stages of the development of the mesomere—an important part of the male copulatory apparatus of many julid millipedes—are made on the basis of the outstanding gonopod conformation in the newly described taxon. Rhodopotyphlus mitovi gen. et sp. nov. is likely a narrow local endemic showing preference for specific microhabitat conditions.