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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 being 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 ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no known species has 1,000; the record of 750 legs belongs to Illacme plenipes. 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.
Myriapoda (Ancient Greek myria- + pous is a subphylum of arthropods containing millipedes, centipedes, and others. The group contains over 16,000 species, most of which are terrestrial. Although their name suggests they have myriad legs, myriapods range from having up to 750 legs to having fewer than ten legs.
Arthropleura is a genus of extinct millipede arthropods that lived in what is now northeastern North America and Scotland around 345 to 295 million years ago, from the Viséan stage of the lower Carboniferous Period to the Asselian stage of the lower Permian Period. The species of the genus are the largest known land invertebrates of all time, and would have had few, if any, predators.
Harpaphe haydeniana, commonly known as the yellow-spotted millipede, almond-scented millipede or cyanide millipede, is a species of polydesmidan ("flat-backed") millipede found in the moist forests along the Pacific coast of North America, from Southeast Alaska to California. The dark coloration with contrasting yellow-tipped keels warn of its ability to exude toxic hydrogen cyanide as a defense. Despite the various common names given the species, the coloration pattern, cyanide defense, and associated almond scent occur in other flat-backed millipedes around the world.
Pneumodesmus newmani is a species of myriapod that lived in the Paleozoic. Its exact age is uncertain; it was originally interpreted as living 428 million years ago, in the Late Silurian; however, the study conducted by Suarez et al. (2017) indicates that it actually lived in the Early Devonian (Lochkovian). It is one of the first myriapods, and among the oldest creatures to have lived on land It was discovered in 2004, and is known from a single specimen from Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Parahughmilleria is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Parahughmilleria have been discovered in deposits of the Devonian and Silurian age in the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, Luxembourg and Great Britain, and have been referred to several different species. The first fossils of Parahughmilleria, discovered in the Shawangunk Mountains in 1907, were initially assigned to Eurypterus. It would not be until 54 years later when Parahughmilleria would be described.
Edward B. 'Ted' Daeschler is an American vertebrate paleontologist and Associate Curator and Chair of Vertebrate Biology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He is a specialist in fish paleontology, especially in the Late Devonian, and in the development of the first limbed vertebrates. He is the discoverer of the transitional fossil tetrapod Hynerpeton bassetti, and a Devonian fish-like specimen of Sauripterus taylori with fingerlike appendages, and was also part of a team of researchers that discovered the transitional fossil Tiktaalik.
Polydesmida is the largest order of millipedes, containing approximately 3,500 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
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.
Archipolypoda is an extinct group of millipedes known from fossils in Europe and North America and containing the earliest known land animals. The Archipolypoda was erected by Scudder (1882) but redefined in 2005 with the description of several new species from Scotland. Distinguishing characteristics include relatively large eyes with densely packed ocelli, and modified leg pairs on the 8th body ring. Some species had prominent spines while others had a flattened appearance.
Platydesmida is an order of millipedes containing two families and over 60 species. Some species practice paternal care, in which males guard the eggs.
Chordeumatida is a large order of millipedes containing some 1200 species with a nearly worldwide distribution. They possess around 30 body segments and reach about 25 mm (0.98 in) in length.
Archidesmus is an extinct millipede genus from the Lower Devonian Old Red Sandstone of the United Kingdom. It is the only member of the taxonomic family Archidesmidae. Individuals were up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, and had 60 to 80 body segments decorated with tubercles (bumps) on the upper surface, and most segments possessed wing-like keels (paranota) extending to the side. The type species Archidesmus macnicoli was described by British paleontologist Benjamin Peach in 1882. A second species, A. loganensis was also described by Peach but its status as a valid species- or even a myriapod- is debated.
Palaeosoma is an extinct genus of archipolypodan millipedes from the upper Carboniferous of England and Poland. Individuals grew to nearly 20 cm (7.9 in) long and possessed defensive glands (ozopores) located on small raised nodes on the outer edges of the upper surface of each body segment. Species of Palaeosoma were once considered members of the family Euphoberiidae, which contains species with prominent spines, but are now classified in their own family (Paleosomatidae) and own order (Palaeosomatida), as they lack spines and have a combination of features not seen in other Paleozoic millipedes.
The Archidesmida is an extinct order of millipedes known from fossils from the Devonian period of Europe and North America. Archidesmidans have broad flat keels (paranota) extending from their body segments, and a modified pair of legs on the 8th segment that may have been involved in mating, similar to the gonopods of living millipedes which insert sperm into females. Alternately, the modified legs may have been used to grasp onto partners during mating.
Palaeodesmus tuberculata is an extinct species of millipede known from the lower Devonian period of modern day Scotland. It was originally described as "Kampecaris tuberculata" by the Reverend Stanley Graham Brade-Birks, but was placed in its own new genus, Palaeodesmus, in 2004. Palaeodesmus has three rows of tubercles or bosses in the shape of round-edged squares or rectangles on the dorsal portion of each body segment. Palaeodesmus is a member of the extinct group Archipolypoda, but its anatomy is too poorly known to place it confidently within any known taxonomic family or order, and so it remains incertae sedis, although possibly related to archidesmidan species such as Archidesmus.
Juliformia is a taxonomic superorder of millipedes containing three living orders: Julida, Spirobolida, and Spirostreptida, and the extinct group Xyloiuloidea known only from fossils. The species possess long cylindrical bodies with sclerites fused into complete rings. Juliform millipedes possess defensive repugnatorial glands on all body segments except the last few, and are the only known millipedes to produce quinones in their defensive secretions. Juliform males have two pairs of gonopods consisting of the modified 8th and 9th pair of legs: in Julida and Spirobolida the posterior gonopods are primarily involved in sperm-transferring, while in Spirostreptida it is the anterior gonopods. Juliformians also lack Tömösváry organs and have a large collum which overhangs the rear of the head.
Anbarrhacus is an extinct genus of millipede in the family Platyrhacidae known from a fossil found in North America. There is one described species in the genus, Anbarrhacus adamantis, which is one of three millipedes described from Mexican amber.
Borchgrevinkium is an extinct genus of chelicerate arthropod. A fossil of the single and type species, B. taimyrensis, has been discovered in deposits of the Early Devonian period in the Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia, Russia. The name of the genus honors Carsten Borchgrevink, an Anglo-Norwegian explorer who participated in many expeditions to Antarctica. Borchgrevinkium represents a poorly known genus whose affinities are uncertain.
Kampecaris is an extinct genus of diplopod, closely related to living millipedes, from the Silurian and early Devonian periods of Scotland and England, which are among the oldest known land-dwelling animals. They were small, short-bodied animals with three recognizable sections: an oval head divided along the midline, ten limb-bearing segments forming a cylindrical trunk that tapered slightly towards the front, and a characteristic swollen tail formed by a modified segment that tapers at its rear into an "anal segment". The cuticle forming their exoskeletons was thick, heavily calcified, and composed of two layers.
References
- ↑ Wilson, Heather M.; Daeschler, Edward B.; Desbiens, Sylvain (2005). "New Flat-Backed Archipolypodan Millipedes from the Upper Devonian of North America". Journal of Paleontology. 79 (4): 738–744. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0738:NFAMFT]2.0.CO;2.
- ↑ "Zanclodesmus". Miguasha National Park. 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
