Sequoiadendron giganteum, also known as the giant sequoia, giant redwood or Sierra redwood is a coniferous tree, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae. Giant sequoia specimens are the most massive trees on Earth. They are native to the groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California but are grown around the world.
Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery in 2020 of Eumillipes persephone, which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures.
Chilognatha is a subclass of the class Diplopoda, which includes the vast majority of extant millipedes, about 12,000 species.
Myriapods are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.
Illacme plenipes is a siphonorhinid millipede found in the central region of the U.S. state of California. It has up to 750 legs. One of three known species in the genus Illacme, it was first seen in 1926, but was not rediscovered until 2005, almost 80 years after its discovery, by Paul Marek, then a Ph.D. student at East Carolina University.
Orator Fuller Cook Jr. was an American botanist, entomologist, and agronomist, known for his work on cotton and rubber cultivation and for coining the term "speciation" to describe the process by which new species arise from existing ones. He published nearly 400 articles on topics such as genetics, evolution, sociology, geography, and anthropology.
Glomerida is an order of pill-millipedes found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. Also known as northern pill millipedes, they superficially resemble pill-bugs or woodlice, and can enroll into a protective ball. They have twelve body segments, 17 to 19 pairs of legs, and males have enlarged rear legs involved in mating. The order includes about 30 genera and at least 280 species, including Glomeris marginata, the common European pill-millipede. The order contains members in Europe, South-east Asia and the Americas from California to Guatemala. Although historically considered closely related with the similar sphaerotheriidans that also enroll, some DNA evidence suggest they may be more closely related to glomeridesmidans, a poorly known order that does not enroll.
Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood. It is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1,200–2,200 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 115.9 m (380.1 ft) in height and up to 8.9 m (29 ft) in diameter at breast height. These trees are also among the longest-living organisms on Earth. Before commercial logging and clearing began by the 1850s, this massive tree occurred naturally in an estimated 810,000 ha along much of coastal California and the southwestern corner of coastal Oregon within the United States.
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as Redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Cupressaceae, that range in the northern hemisphere. It includes the largest and tallest trees in the world. The trees in the subfamily are amongst the most notable trees in the world and are common ornamental trees. The subfamily was dominant during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Motyxia is a genus of cyanide-producing millipedes that are endemic to the southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, and Santa Monica mountain ranges of California. Motyxias are blind and produce the poison cyanide, like all members of the Polydesmida. All species have the ability to glow brightly: some of the few known instances of bioluminescence in millipedes.
Chordeumatida is a large order of millipedes containing some 1200 species with a nearly worldwide distribution. Also known as sausage millipedes, they grow and develop through a series of moults, adding segments until they reach a fixed number in the adult stage, which is usually the same for a given sex in a given species, at which point the moulting and the addition of segments and legs stop. This mode of development, known as teloanamorphosis, distinguishes this order from most other orders of millipedes, which usually continue to moult as adults, developing through either euanamorphosis or hemianamorphosis.
Siphoniulus is a poorly known genus of millipede containing only two living species: S. alba from Indonesia, and S. neotropicus from Mexico and Guatemala. An additional two fossil species are known from Cretaceous amber. Siphoniulus species are the only members of the family Siphoniulidae and order Siphoniulida, making Siphoniulida the smallest millipede order. Few specimens are known, and their classification is contentious, although most recent studies place them as basal members of the Helminthomorpha.
Harold Frederick Loomis was an American botanist and myriapodologist known for his contributions to agronomy, plant pathology, and millipede taxonomy. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for over four decades, studying diseases of crop plants, and was a colleague of Orator F. Cook. He also made major contributions to the natural history of Central America and the West Indies, naming over 500 species of millipedes in total. He co-described with Cook the leggiest animal on earth: Illacme plenipes, with over 700 legs.
Siphonorhinidae is a family of millipede in the order Siphonophorida. There are at least 4 genera and about 12 described species in Siphonorhinidae.
Siphonophoridae is a family of millipedes in the order Siphonophorida. There are about 12 genera and more than 110 described species in Siphonophoridae.
Illacme tobini is a species of millipede in the family Siphonorhinidae. It was discovered in California at Sequoia National Park in 2016. This millipede is part of the Illacme genus, which contains only two other species, Illacme plenipes and Illacme socal.
Striariidae is a family of millipedes in the order Chordeumatida. Adult millipedes in this family have 30 segments. There are at least 3 genera and about 13 described species in Striariidae.
Metopidiotrichidae is a family of millipedes in the order Chordeumatida. These millipedes range from 4 mm to 17 mm in length. Adult millipedes in this family have 32 segments, not the 30 segments usually found in this order. Adult males in this family often feature a reduced or vestigial leg pair 10 as part of the gonopod complex, in addition to the two leg pairs typically modified into gonopods in this order. There are about 9 genera and at least 70 described species in Metopidiotrichidae.
Plumatyla humerosa is a millipede species found in mines, as well as lava tube and limestone caves of northern California and south-central Oregon. It belongs to the family Conotylidae. The millipede is likely a troglophile with a white carapace and observed in lava caves though it may inhabit crevices as well. P. humerosa is observed frequenting areas with mold or bat feces on the cave floors. Taracus marchingtoni has been observed feeding on P. humerosa within cave habitat.
Illacme socal is a species of millipede in the family Siphonorhinidae. It was discovered in California at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in 2018.
