Giupponia is a monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of the harvestman family Gonyleptidae

Gonyleptidae

Gonyleptidae is a Neotropical family of harvestmen with more than 800 species, the largest in the Suborder Laniatores and the second largest of the Opiiones as a whole...

. The only described species, G. chagasi, was found in two limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 caves in Serra do Ramalho

Serra do Ramalho

The caves of the Serro da Ramalho karst area in the southwestern Bahia State, Brazil, have been explored since the early 2000s. The several large cave systems present a great biospeleological potential...

, Bahia State, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

The long-legged species features several adaptations to cave life

Troglobite

Troglobites are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglobite species include spiders, insects, fish and others. They live permanently underground and cannot survive outside the cave environment. Troglobite adaptations and characteristics include a heightened...

, such as complete eyelessness and lack of pigmentation.

Name

The genus and species are named after arachnologist Alessandro Ponce de Leão Giupponi and myriapodologist Amazonas Chagas Júnior, respectively.