[4] The French zoologist Eugène Louis Bouvier proposed this family in 1905 with Peripatopsis as the type genus.

[4][5] The Peripatopsidae exhibit relatively many characteristics that are perceived as original or "primitive" with respect to the Peripatidae.

[9] This family includes both oviparous genera (e.g., Ooperipatellus and Ooperipatus) and viviparous genera, which adopt various modes of supplying nourishment to their embryos, ranging from lecithotrophic ovoviviparity (with yolky eggs retained in their uteri, e.g., Peripatoides) to matrotrophic viviparity (with little or no yolk in the eggs retained in their uteri and nourishment supplied by the mother instead, e.g., Metaperipatus, Opisthopatus, Paraperipatus, Paropisthopatus, and Peripatopsis).

[11] The Peripatopsidae lack a placenta, however, which has been found in velvet worms only in the neotropical Peripatidae.

[7] The distribution of the Peripatopsidae (also known as southern velvet worms[21]) is circumaustral; in particular, they inhabit Australasia, South Africa and Chile.