Taxonomy Profile: Docodesmus cooki (Loomis 1969)

Despite the biogeographic implausibility of a docodesmid in the southern Appalachians, Loomis (1969) was at pains to discount the possibility of a mix-up of material by Cook. That Cook was not infallible is attested by the case of two rhachodesmids labeled as "Haiti?" and later re-attributed by him to Panama (cf. Loomis, 1971: 175, who deduced the correct origin as Nicaragua!). More likely, a museum preparator, not Cook, could have made the mistake in labeling the Docodesmus.