ON THE TAXONOMIC STATUS OF THINDYIA CHAMBERLIN, 1955, A GENUS OF PERUVIAN CENTIPEDS WITH REMARKABLE STERNAL MODIFICATION (GEOPHILOMORPHA: SCHENDYLIDAE)

Thindyla, a monotypic genus based upon T. pacifiaJ Chamberlin, 1955, from the coast of Peru, is removed from synonymy under the polyphyletic genus Pectiniunguis on the basis of a deep, large, cylindrical cavity in the sterna of several anterior body segments, not approximated in any other known geophilo-morph. Synonymy of pacifiaJ with litoralis Kraus, 1954, is confirmed, and the species redescribed and figured in detail from type material of both names. Problems associated with the definition of genera in the Schendylidae are discussed; it is recommended that recourse to simple "present " vs. "absent" character states be minimized or discontinued, and that single "loss " characters not be the basis for generic diagnosis. INTRODUCfiON Chilopods are prominent among the groups of organisms which, owing to a paucity of available character-systems, are the despair of taxonomists. This bad situation is made worse by structural variability- individual, ontogenetic, sexual, and geographic- in what fe