Eukoenenia spelaea , Palpigradi: Musculature

Abstract

Palpigradi have an extensive axial muscular system in the prosoma, but relatively few muscles in the opisthosoma. The movements of the legs are partially by antagonistic muscles, but hemolymph pressure may also play an important role in moving legs, because in some leg articles antagonists are missing. From a comparative point of view, palpigrades show a most ancestral set of muscles, surprisingly being even more plesiomorphic than the chelicerate body plan.