Millipedes of Australia

Sphaerotheriida: Introduction

The former higher classification of Australian sphaerotheriidans was devised by Jeekel (1974) and placed all Australian pill millipedes in a single tribe within the family Sphaerotheriidae:

Order Sphaerotheriida Brandt, 1833
  Family Sphaerotheriidae C.L. Koch, 1847
    Subfamily Sphaerotheriinae C.L. Koch, 1847
      Tribe Cyliosomatini Jeekel, 1974

However, Wesener and VandenSpiegel (2009) have shown with a detailed morphological analysis that Procyliosoma forms a sister group to all other genera in Sphaerotheriidae sensu Jeekel. Their new classification makes Procyliosoma the sole genus in Procyliosomatidae Wesener & VandenSpiegel, 2009. The other two Australian genera, Cynotelopus and Epicyliosoma, are currently 'floating' without family assignment in Sphaerotheriida.

Six named species whose generic placement is uncertain are summarised on the unplaced species page.