Editing Onychophora (section)

===Distribution===
[[File:Onychophora_global_distribution_map.jpg|left|thumb|Known distribution of modern and fossil velvet worms.|300x300px]]
Velvet worms are found in the [[tropics]] and in the [[temperate zone]] of the [[Southern Hemisphere]]. Members of the family [[Peripatidae]] are found the tropical regions of [[South America]], [[Central America]], the [[Caribbean]] islands, [[Gabon]], Northeast [[India]], and [[Southeast Asia]]. Meanwhile, members of [[Peripatopsidae]] are found [[Chile]], [[Australia]], [[Southern Africa]], [[New Guinea]], and [[New Zealand]].<ref name="Oliveira 2023">{{Cite journal |last=Oliveira |first=Ivo de Sena |date=2023-11-16 |title=An updated world checklist of velvet worms (Onychophora) with notes on nomenclature and status of names |journal=ZooKeys |language=en |issue=1184 |pages=133–260 |doi=10.3897/zookeys.1184.107286 |doi-access=free |pmid=38023768 |pmc=10680090 |bibcode=2023ZooK.1184..133O |issn=1313-2970}}</ref> One deviation is the South African ''[[Peripatopsis capensis]]''. This animal inadvertently introduced to [[Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)|Santa Cruz Island]] in the [[Galapagos Islands|Galapagos]] and co-occurs with native species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Espinasa |first1=Luis |last2=Garvey |first2=Radha |last3=Espinasa |first3=Jordi |last4=Fratto |first4=Christina |last5=Taylor |first5=Steven |last6=Toulkeridis |first6=Theofilos |last7=Addison |first7=Aaron |date=2015-01-21 |title=Cave dwelling Onychophora from a Lava Tube in the Galapagos Cave dwelling Onychophora from a Lava Tube in the Galapagos |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273059765 |journal=Subterranean Biology |volume=15 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.3897/subtbiol.15.8468 |doi-access=free}}</ref> When looking at velvet worms as a whole, the majority of are found in Australia and South America.<ref name="Oliveira 2023" />

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Extinct onychophorans have been discovered in parts of the [[Northern Hemisphere]] which are currently uninhabited by the group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=I. |last2=Jones |first2=D. S. |last3=Thompson |first3=I. |last4=Jones |first4=D. S. |date=1980-01-01 |title=A possible onychophoran helenodora inopinata new genus new species from the middle pennsylvanian mazon creek beds of northern illinois usa |url=https://eurekamag.com/research/004/609/004609510.php |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=588–596 |issn=0022-3360}}</ref><ref name="Jr20002">{{Cite journal |last1=Poinar |first1=G. Jr. |year=2000 |title=Fossil Onychophorans from Dominican and Baltic Amber: ''Tertiapatus dominicanus'' n.g., n.sp. (Tertiapatidae n.fam.) and ''Succinipatopsis balticus'' n.g., n.sp. (Succinipatopsidae n.fam.) with a Proposed Classification of the Subphylum Onychophora |journal=Invertebrate Biology |volume=119 |issue=1 |pages=104–9 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-7410.2000.tb00178.x |doi-access=free|bibcode=2000InvBi.119..104P }}</ref><ref name="GarwoodEdgecombe20162">{{cite journal |last1=Garwood |first1=Russell J. |last2=Edgecombe |first2=Gregory D. |last3=Charbonnier |first3=Sylvain |last4=Chabard |first4=Dominique |last5=Sotty |first5=Daniel |last6=Giribet |first6=Gonzalo |year=2016 |title=Carboniferous Onychophora from Montceau-les-Mines, France, and onychophoran terrestrialization |journal=Invertebrate Biology |volume=135 |issue=3 |pages=179–190 |doi=10.1111/ivb.12130 |issn=1077-8306 |pmc=5042098 |pmid=27708504 |doi-access=free}}</ref> While the onychophoran affinities of ''[[Succinipatopsis]]'' and ''[[Helenodora]]'' of are questioned,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Murdock |first1=Duncan J. E. |last2=Gabbott |first2=Sarah E. |last3=Purnell |first3=Mark A. |date=2016-01-22 |title=The impact of taphonomic data on phylogenetic resolution: Helenodora inopinata (Carboniferous, Mazon Creek Lagerstätte) and the onychophoran stem lineage |url=https://bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-016-0582-7 |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=19 |doi=10.1186/s12862-016-0582-7 |doi-broken-date=6 April 2025 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=4722706 |pmid=26801389|bibcode=2016BMCEE..16...19M }}</ref>''<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Garwood |first1=Russell J. |last2=Edgecombe |first2=Gregory D. |last3=Charbonnier |first3=Sylvain |last4=Chabard |first4=Dominique |last5=Sotty |first5=Daniel |last6=Giribet |first6=Gonzalo |year=2016 |title=Carboniferous Onychophora from Montceau-les-Mines, France, and onychophoran terrestrialization |journal=Invertebrate Biology |volume=135 |issue=3 |pages=179–190 |doi=10.1111/ivb.12130 |issn=1077-8306 |pmc=5042098 |pmid=27708504 |doi-access=free}}</ref>'' others like the ''[[Antennipatus]]'' are at a minimum close relatives of [[Crown group|crown-group]] Onychophora ([[Peripatidae]] and [[Peripatopsidae]]).<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":022">{{Cite journal |last1=Giribet |first1=Gonzalo |last2=Buckman-Young |first2=Rebecca S. |last3=Costa |first3=Cristiano Sampaio |last4=Baker |first4=Caitlin M. |last5=Benavides |first5=Ligia R. |last6=Branstetter |first6=Michael G. |last7=Daniels |first7=Savel R. |last8=Pinto-da-Rocha |first8=Ricardo |date=2018 |title=The 'Peripatos' in Eurogondwana? – Lack of evidence that south-east Asian onychophorans walked through Europe |url=https://bioone.org/journals/Invertebrate-Systematics/volume-32/issue-4/IS18007/The-iPeripatos-i-in-Eurogondwana--Lack-of-evidence-that/10.1071/IS18007.full |journal=Invertebrate Systematics |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=840–863 |doi=10.1071/IS18007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=Caitlin M |last2=Buckman-Young |first2=Rebecca S |last3=Costa |first3=Cristiano S |last4=Giribet |first4=Gonzalo |date=2021-12-01 |title=Phylogenomic Analysis of Velvet Worms (Onychophora) Uncovers an Evolutionary Radiation in the Neotropics |url=https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/38/12/5391/6357048?login=true |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=38 |issue=12 |pages=5391–5404 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msab251 |pmid=34427671 |pmc=8662635 |issn=1537-1719}}</ref> This indicates that velvet worms were far more widespread in the past, but subsequently died off for unknown reasons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oliveira |first1=Ivo de Sena |last2=Bai |first2=Ming |last3=Jahn |first3=Henry |last4=Gross |first4=Vladimir |last5=Martin |first5=Christine |last6=Hammel |first6=Jörg U. |last7=Zhang |first7=Weiwei |last8=Mayer |first8=Georg |date=2016-10-10 |title=Earliest Onychophoran in Amber Reveals Gondwanan Migration Patterns |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982216307746 |journal=Current Biology |volume=26 |issue=19 |pages=2594–2601 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.023 |pmid=27693140 |bibcode=2016CBio...26.2594O |issn=0960-9822}}</ref>