Furcillaria
Shelley, 1981
Furcillaria is a of flat-backed millipedes established by Shelley in 1981 within the Xystodesmidae. It originally comprised four from the eastern United States: Furcillaria aequalis, F. convoluta, F. laminata, and F. thrinax. In 2021, taxonomic authorities reevaluated the genus and deemed it a junior synonym of Sigmoria, a decision now reflected in major databases such as the Catalogue of Life. Some sources, including GBIF and NCBI, continue to list Furcillaria as accepted, reflecting ongoing taxonomic debate or lag in database updates. The genus belongs to the tribe Apheloriini, a group of xystodesmid millipedes characterized by complex .
Pronunciation
How to pronounce Furcillaria: //fʊɹˈsɪˌlæɹiə//
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Distribution
Eastern United States, based on the type localities of the four included described by Shelley.
Similar Taxa
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Taxonomic Status
The status of Furcillaria is disputed. Catalogue of Life lists it as a synonym of Sigmoria (status updated 2021), while GBIF and NCBI retain it as accepted. This discrepancy reflects the lag between taxonomic revisions and database updates, or differing editorial decisions among curators. The original description by Shelley (1981) distinguished Furcillaria based on characters, but subsequent found these differences insufficient to warrant generic separation from Sigmoria.
Type Species
Furcillaria aequalis Shelley, 1981 was designated as the type of the .