Thanks for a most thoughtful and informative reply. It appears that both species have coexisted for a long period of time, judging by their distribution.



It appears that the ranges of the two species are still being reexamined. Which of the two species is the more widespread?



I am thinking that perhaps the long tail of the forest species, according to your description of how Contia species use their tails, may be advantageous in the forest substrate owing to the amount of leaf litter and the looseness of the soil. Perhaps the long tail allows the forest species to anchor itself better by reaching beyond the loose surface cover into a firmer substrate. For the species living in a drier habitat, a long tail may not be as useful as a more muscular but shorter one.



Given its diet of organisms that require a moist environment, perhaps Contia originated in a forested setting, and the short tail is an adaptation for a drier habitat with a firmer ground surface that in turn requires more muscle but not necessarily a longer tail to anchor. If my hypothesis is correct, then the long tailed form would most likely be the ancestral form. It would be most interesting to find out whether they meet and whether they interbreed with one another.

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