Discovering a new Velvet Worm species in the Swartberg Mountains
Peripatopsis barnardi represents the first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. It is one of seven new species from the Cape Fold Mountains described in a paper published in Ecology and Evolution.
Image: Savel Daniels
In March 2022, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Rohan Barnard was out and about on a farm in the Swartberg Mountains between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, flipping over rocks looking for ants, reptiles and other critters, when he stumbled upon the finding of a lifetime.
Buried deep in the moist sand below a pile of leaf litter at the periphery of a small river, he found a slate black velvet worm. Being familiar with how rare velvet worms are, he took a specimen and also posted an image of it to the biodiversity observation app, iNaturalist.
'I had a basic knowledge of the Cape velvet worms, having found one for the first time on Table Mountain in 2019. My older brother was under assignment from his zoology lecturer, Prof. Savel Daniels, to collect velvet worms. With my interest in ants, I gladly assisted him in this task,' Rohan, now a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology, explained.
Velvet worms' lineage dates back to over 500 million years ago., making it a living relic of the Cambrian period. With their soft bodies and non-jointed legs, these critters have changed little over millions of years, earning them the title of 'living fossils'.
Little did Rohan know at the time that he had just found a new species of velvet worm, now aptly named Rohan's velvet worm or, in scientific terms, Peripatopsis barnardi.
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A new velvet worm species, Peripatopsis barnardi, is named after Rohan Barnard, currently a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University. He found a specimen while looking for insects in an ancient forest patch in a kloof in the Swartberg Mountains.
Image: Supplied.
Even more remarkable is the fact that it representsthe first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. In other words, with prehistorical climate changes, and aridification, the species became isolated and underwent speciation.
According to Prof. Daniels, an evolutionary biologist from SU's Department of Botany and Zoology and one of South Africa's foremost specialists on velvet worms, it is utterly remarkable that such a prehistorical lineage is still around today. After viewing this rare find on iNaturalist, he visited the same area in July 2022 and collected a paratype and another nine specimens for analysis.
The results of his analysis, and the announcement of seven new species of velvet worms, were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution recently. Daniels, the first author on the paper, said South Africa's velvet worms are mainly found in prehistoric Afro temperate forest patches that persist in deep gorges in the Cape Fold Mountains
'The origin of these forest patches can be traced to the early Miocene, about 23 to 15 million years ago, when the region used to be temperate and sub-tropical. During the late Miocene, however, the region underwent significant climatic changes, with a decrease in rainfall due to the advent of the proto-Benguela current along the West Coast and two geotectonic uplifting events. These events resulted in a complex mosaic of habitat connectivity and isolation, what we know today as the Cape Fold Mountains, driving the speciation of habitat specialists such as velvet worms,' he explains.
Daniels used new mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing techniques, combined with morphological analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to determine that P. barnardi diverged from its most recent common ancestor about 15.2 million years ago. Another novel finding from the Cederberg Mountains, P. cederbergiensis, can trace its lineage to 12.47 million years ago.
Daniels welcomes the efforts of citizen scientists to share their findings on biodiversity apps: 'It is thanks to citizen science data that we were able to identify the new species. In the Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that every mountain peak has an endemic species. This suggests that in unsampled areas there are likely to be additional novel diversity, waiting to be found.'
Most importantly, though, it means that we must conserve these prehistoric forest fragments to limit extinction.
To Rohan, it still feels surreal to have such a fossil-like creature named after him: 'It is incredible to realise that I've uncovered a living fossil. It is as if I have found a missing link that we did not even know about. It gives me hope that there is still so much left to discover. But it also makes me worried for the future, that we will lose animals and plants to extinction that we did not even know existed,' he warned.
The seven new species are P. fernkloofi, P. jonkershoeki, P. kogelbergi, P. landroskoppie, P. limietbergi and P. palmeri. Apart from P. barnardi, all the new species were named after their places of origin.
The results were published in the article titled 'Perched on the plateau: speciation in a Cape Fold Mountain velvet worm clade' in Ecology and Evolution.
Why are velvet worms so unique? Like the indestructible water bears (Tardigrades), modern velvet worms are looked on as a separate line of evolution (and placed in a distinct phylum) that arose independently from some long forgotten marine ancestor – probably the Hallicogenia. Fossils show that velvet worms have not changed much since they diverged from their ancient relative about 540 million years ago.
This means Onycophorans have been living on Earth ever since what is called the Cambrian period of prehistory. Today, modern velvet worms live on land and are found only in damp, moist habitats in areas that were originally part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana
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Mail & Guardian
28-05-2025
- Mail & Guardian
Living ‘fossil' found: Rare velvet worm species named after teenage explorer
Peripatopsis barnardi represents the first ever species from the Little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. It is one of seven new species from the Cape Fold Mountains described in a paper published in Ecology and Evolution. Image: Savel Daniels In March 2022, Rohan Barnard was on a farm in the In an ancient forest patch, buried deep in the moist sand below a pile of leaf litter at the edge of a small river, the grade nine student found a slate black velvet worm. Because Barnard was already familiar with how 'I had a basic knowledge of the Cape velvet worms, having found one for the first time on Table Mountain in 2019,' said Barnard, now a third-year BSc student in conservation ecology and entomology at His older brother was under assignment from his zoology lecturer, The Little did Barnard know at the time that he had just discovered a new species of velvet worm, now fittingly named Rohan's velvet worm or Even more remarkably, it represents the first ever species from the Little Karoo, indicating that the area was historically more forested than at present. Prehistorical lineage According to After viewing the rare find on iNaturalist, Daniels visited the same area in July 2022 and collected a paratype and another nine specimens for analysis. These velvet worms were hand-collected from under logs or stones, under moss close to stream beds and in decomposing leaf litter and placed into labelled plastic jars. The results of his analysis and the announcement of seven new species of velvet worms, was Ecology and Evolution . The seven new species are P. fernkloofi, P. jonkershoeki, P. kogelbergi, P. landroskoppie, P. limietbergi and P. palmeri . Apart from P. barnardi , all were named after their places of origin. South Africa's velvet worms are mainly found in prehistoric 'In the present study, we sampled the Cape Fold Mountains, looking specifically for areas where we have not collected velvet worms before,' he noted. The origin of these forest patches can be traced to the 'During the late Miocene, however, the region underwent significant climatic changes, with a decrease in rainfall due to the advent of the proto Benguela current along the West Coast, and two geotectonic uplifting events. 'These events resulted in a complex mosaic of habitat connectivity and isolation, what we know today as the Cape Fold Mountains, driving the speciation of habitat specialists such as velvet worms.' A new velvet worm species, Peripatopsis barnardi, is named after Rohan Barnard, currently a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University. He found a specimen while looking for insects in an ancient forest patch in a kloof in the Swartberg Mountains. Image supplied. DNA techniques Daniels used new mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing techniques, combined with morphological analysis and scanning electron microscopy, to determine that P. barnardi diverged from its most recent common ancestor about 15.2 million years ago. Another novel finding from the Cederberg Mountains, P. cederbergiensis , traces its lineage to 12.47 million years ago. Velvet worms are soft-bodied arthropods in the phylum Onychophora and are a sibling grouping to the true 'Now, most people would remember from school biology that the true arthropods are the animals with hard exoskeletons — a classic example would be a crab or a crayfish or a dragonfly or a locust or an insect, for that matter. 'So, velvet worms are a very ancient group of animals. They have a fossil record dating back over 500 million years. If you think about how long these animals have been around in the terrestrial environment, and the fact that they are generally confined to forested habitats,' he said, noting that some species can occur in relatively arid areas, where they would be under logs or rocks, generally in proximity to a stream. 'Nevertheless, if you look at these ancient animals, these velvet worms, they are very good for us to use as non-model organisms to track how environmental change would have occurred from, for example, the Miocene.' For the study, they sequenced a number of genes for newly collected velvet worms in areas, for example, the Little Karoo. 'And what we can do with this data is we can reconstruct the evolutionary history of the group and then we can apply divergence time estimation.' This provides a calibration point for when specification would have occurred. 'And what these results clearly show is that, historically, velvet worms were more widely spread because, currently, if you think of the Karoo, you think of a relatively arid area, but the fact that there are velvet worms at the base of the great Swartberg mountains there suggests that, historically, the area was much wetter than what it is in a contemporary scenario.' What the study shows is that the contraction and expansion of forests through ancient times has 'essentially resulted in the cladogenesis we observe, or the speciation, that we're seeing'. On the study's importance, Daniels said that first, it indicates the power of citizen science which is 'where we first saw the post of the animals from the Little Karoo'. 'But I think, secondly, that it also suggests that all of these isolated little forest patches that we find across the Cape Fold Mountains in deep gorges and kloof areas essentially harbour very unique biodiversity. 'I think finally that what it is says is that we need more focused studies to sample these isolated areas for a large number of invertebrate species — animals without backbones — because, ultimately, what this will reveal is that the biodiversity of invertebrates in the Cape Fold Mountains is significantly higher than what we've thought until the present.' Lucky find In the Cape Fold Mountains, 'we now know that every mountain peak has an endemic species'. 'This suggests that, in unsampled areas, there is likely to be additional novel diversity waiting to be found,' he added. Crucially, it means that these prehistoric forest fragments must be conserved to limit extinction. Barnard counts himself lucky to be able to see the velvet worms. 'I have developed more of an appreciation for the uniqueness of these creatures, but my interest hasn't changed from being excited to find them in the wild and being able to show them to people who have never seen them before,' he said. 'I would still like to see all the Cape velvet worm species, but some of them are extremely rare. Currently, I have seen six out of 34 species.' It still feels surreal to have such a fossil-like creature named after him: 'It is incredible to realise that I've uncovered a living fossil. It is as if I have found a missing link that we did not even know about. 'It gives me hope that there is still so much left to discover. But it also makes me worried for the future, that we will lose animals and plants to extinction that we did not even know existed.'
IOL News
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The dragonfly Allocnemis leucostica Image: Charl Deacon Dragonflies, often seen flitting gracefully above ponds and waterways, are not merely aesthetic wonders; they are crucial sentinels of our freshwater ecosystems. A recent assessment by a team of international dragonfly experts, including notable scientists from Stellenbosch University's Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, has issued a clarion call for the enhanced incorporation of dragonflies into global biodiversity conservation efforts. Their findings highlight the urgent need for a structured and targeted approach to preserve these irreplaceable insects, which indicate the health of aquatic environments. In their comprehensive review published in the journal Insect Conservation and Diversity, the researchers outline a pragmatic five-point action plan aimed at elevating the role of dragonflies in conservation initiatives. This plan includes: Expanding dragonfly assessment and monitoring protocols. Integrating dragonflies into standard environmental toxicological risk assessments. Utilising insights from dragonfly biology to enhance landscape conservation strategies. Coordinating dragonfly conservation with broader initiatives for other species. Advocating for increased environmental education centred around dragonflies. The urgency of conserving dragonflies cannot be overstated. As stated by the researchers: 'Dragonflies are a key component of freshwater and neighbouring land ecosystems,' underscoring their value in assessing both water and land quality. By monitoring specific groups of dragonfly species within defined habitats, stakeholders can glean critical insights into environmental degradation and the necessary actions to restore impacted areas. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Unfortunately, dragonflies face significant threats, including habitat loss, pollution, and the encroachment of invasive species, all exacerbated by human activity. Yet the most daunting threat remains the rising tides of climate change, which are reconfiguring ecosystems and altering the habitats these insects rely on for survival. Highlighting the interconnectedness of these challenges, the authors argue that dragonflies can serve as effective barometers for measuring conservation success. Initiatives such as sustainable land-use practices, wetland protection, and eco-friendly city planning all stand to benefit from a focus on dragonfly populations. To underpin these efforts, the scientists advocate for ongoing monitoring of dragonfly populations, particularly at the early stages of conservation programmes. By documenting changes in distribution and numbers over time, one can quantify threats and better measure the success of implemented strategies. This data not only reinforces conservation priorities but also informs critical policy decisions that aim to enhance biodiversity protection. Yet it is not just the data that informs these initiatives; local expertise plays a pivotal role in translating research into action. Understanding the traits and capabilities of individual dragonfly species may reveal pathways for adaptation or highlight vulnerabilities to local extinction. As the database on dragonfly traits expands, researchers note the necessity for tools that facilitate species identification and foster greater knowledge of their ecological roles. Furthermore, dragonflies' charismatic presence can serve as a cornerstone for environmental education, bridging diverse communities and sparking collective interest in conservation. The scientists highlight the potential for citizen science projects to democratise conservation efforts, encouraging local participation in monitoring and protecting dragonfly habitats. Exploring the cultural significance of dragonflies can deepen public engagement and inspire policy interventions that prioritise their conservation.
IOL News
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Discovering a new Velvet Worm species in the Swartberg Mountains
Peripatopsis barnardi represents the first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. It is one of seven new species from the Cape Fold Mountains described in a paper published in Ecology and Evolution. Image: Savel Daniels In March 2022, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Rohan Barnard was out and about on a farm in the Swartberg Mountains between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, flipping over rocks looking for ants, reptiles and other critters, when he stumbled upon the finding of a lifetime. Buried deep in the moist sand below a pile of leaf litter at the periphery of a small river, he found a slate black velvet worm. Being familiar with how rare velvet worms are, he took a specimen and also posted an image of it to the biodiversity observation app, iNaturalist. 'I had a basic knowledge of the Cape velvet worms, having found one for the first time on Table Mountain in 2019. My older brother was under assignment from his zoology lecturer, Prof. Savel Daniels, to collect velvet worms. With my interest in ants, I gladly assisted him in this task,' Rohan, now a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology, explained. Velvet worms' lineage dates back to over 500 million years ago., making it a living relic of the Cambrian period. With their soft bodies and non-jointed legs, these critters have changed little over millions of years, earning them the title of 'living fossils'. Little did Rohan know at the time that he had just found a new species of velvet worm, now aptly named Rohan's velvet worm or, in scientific terms, Peripatopsis barnardi. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ A new velvet worm species, Peripatopsis barnardi, is named after Rohan Barnard, currently a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University. He found a specimen while looking for insects in an ancient forest patch in a kloof in the Swartberg Mountains. Image: Supplied. Even more remarkable is the fact that it representsthe first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. In other words, with prehistorical climate changes, and aridification, the species became isolated and underwent speciation. According to Prof. Daniels, an evolutionary biologist from SU's Department of Botany and Zoology and one of South Africa's foremost specialists on velvet worms, it is utterly remarkable that such a prehistorical lineage is still around today. After viewing this rare find on iNaturalist, he visited the same area in July 2022 and collected a paratype and another nine specimens for analysis. The results of his analysis, and the announcement of seven new species of velvet worms, were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution recently. Daniels, the first author on the paper, said South Africa's velvet worms are mainly found in prehistoric Afro temperate forest patches that persist in deep gorges in the Cape Fold Mountains 'The origin of these forest patches can be traced to the early Miocene, about 23 to 15 million years ago, when the region used to be temperate and sub-tropical. During the late Miocene, however, the region underwent significant climatic changes, with a decrease in rainfall due to the advent of the proto-Benguela current along the West Coast and two geotectonic uplifting events. These events resulted in a complex mosaic of habitat connectivity and isolation, what we know today as the Cape Fold Mountains, driving the speciation of habitat specialists such as velvet worms,' he explains. Daniels used new mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing techniques, combined with morphological analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to determine that P. barnardi diverged from its most recent common ancestor about 15.2 million years ago. Another novel finding from the Cederberg Mountains, P. cederbergiensis, can trace its lineage to 12.47 million years ago. Daniels welcomes the efforts of citizen scientists to share their findings on biodiversity apps: 'It is thanks to citizen science data that we were able to identify the new species. In the Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that every mountain peak has an endemic species. This suggests that in unsampled areas there are likely to be additional novel diversity, waiting to be found.' Most importantly, though, it means that we must conserve these prehistoric forest fragments to limit extinction. To Rohan, it still feels surreal to have such a fossil-like creature named after him: 'It is incredible to realise that I've uncovered a living fossil. It is as if I have found a missing link that we did not even know about. It gives me hope that there is still so much left to discover. But it also makes me worried for the future, that we will lose animals and plants to extinction that we did not even know existed,' he warned. The seven new species are P. fernkloofi, P. jonkershoeki, P. kogelbergi, P. landroskoppie, P. limietbergi and P. palmeri. Apart from P. barnardi, all the new species were named after their places of origin. The results were published in the article titled 'Perched on the plateau: speciation in a Cape Fold Mountain velvet worm clade' in Ecology and Evolution. Why are velvet worms so unique? Like the indestructible water bears (Tardigrades), modern velvet worms are looked on as a separate line of evolution (and placed in a distinct phylum) that arose independently from some long forgotten marine ancestor – probably the Hallicogenia. Fossils show that velvet worms have not changed much since they diverged from their ancient relative about 540 million years ago. This means Onycophorans have been living on Earth ever since what is called the Cambrian period of prehistory. Today, modern velvet worms live on land and are found only in damp, moist habitats in areas that were originally part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana
