| Zosterogrammida Temporal range: | |
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| Purkynia lata | |
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| Order: | †Zosterogrammida Wilson, 2005 |
| Family: | †Zosterogrammidae Wilson, 2005 |
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Zosterogrammidae is an extinct family of millipedes containing three genera, each with a single species. Fossils are known from the Czech Republic, Scotland, and the USA. Zosterogrammidae constitutes the sole family of the order Zosterogrammida.
Zosterogrammids have broad heads, 20 to 32 body segments, with a body tapering towards the head and rear. The dorsal plates of each segment are very broad and the rear portion of each is segment ornamented with lines. Size ranges from 26 millimetres (1.0 in) to 55 millimetres (2.2 in) in length. Superficially they are similar to the living Polyzoniida in body proportion. [1]
Zosterogrammidae is placed in its own order, Zosterogrammida. Zosterogrammida is considered incertae sedis (uncertain placement) within the millipede subclass Chilognatha. [1]
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 ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery 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.
Myriapods are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, arthropods such as millipedes, centipedes, and others. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.
Eurypterus is an extinct genus of eurypterid, a group of organisms commonly called "sea scorpions". The genus lived during the Silurian period, from around 432 to 418 million years ago. Eurypterus is by far the most well-studied and well-known eurypterid. Eurypterus fossil specimens probably represent more than 95% of all known eurypterid specimens.
Arthropleuridea is an extinct subclass of myriapod arthropods that flourished during the Carboniferous period, having first arose during the Silurian, and perishing in the Early Permian. Members are characterized by possessing diplosegement paranotal tergal lobes separated from the body axis by a suture, and by sclerotized plates buttressing the leg insertions. Despite their unique features, recent phylogenetic research suggests Arthropleuridea be included among millipedes in the class Diplopoda. The subclass contains three recognized orders, each with a single genus.
Pill millipedes are any members of two living orders of millipedes, often grouped together into a single superorder, Oniscomorpha. The name Oniscomorpha refers to the millipedes' resemblance to certain woodlice (Oniscidea), also called pillbugs or "roly-polies". However, millipedes and woodlice are not closely related ; rather, this is a case of convergent evolution.
Arthropleura is a genus of extinct millipede arthropods that lived in what is now North America and Europe around 345 to 290 million years ago, from the Viséan stage of the lower Carboniferous Period to the Sakmarian 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.
The order Trigonotarbida is a group of extinct arachnids whose fossil record extends from the late Silurian to the early Permian. These animals are known from several localities in Europe and North America, as well as a single record from Argentina. Trigonotarbids can be envisaged as spider-like arachnids, but without silk-producing spinnerets. They ranged in size from a few millimetres to a few centimetres in body length and had segmented abdomens (opisthosoma), with the dorsal exoskeleton (tergites) across the backs of the animals' abdomens, which were characteristically divided into three or five separate plates. Probably living as predators on other arthropods, some later trigonotarbid species were quite heavily armoured and protected themselves with spines and tubercles. About seventy species are currently known, with most fossils originating from the Carboniferous coal measures.
Ophiderpeton is an extinct genus of aistopod tetrapodomorphs from the early Carboniferous to the early Permian. Remains of this genus are widespread and were found in Ohio, United States, Ireland, and the Czech Republic.
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, subsequent research dates it to around 414 million years old, 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.
Campylocephalus is a genus of eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Campylocephalus have been discovered in deposits ranging from the Carboniferous period in the Czech Republic to the Permian period of Russia. The generic name is composed of the Greek words καμπύλος (kampýlos), meaning "curved", and κεφαλή (kephalē), meaning "head".
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.
Siphonophorida is an order of millipedes containing two families and over 100 species.
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.
Eusarcana is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Eusarcana have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Silurian to the Early Devonian. Classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, the genus contains three species, E. acrocephalus, E. obesus and E. scorpionis, from the Silurian-Devonian of Scotland, the Czech Republic and the United States respectively.
Necrogammarus salweyi is the binomial name applied to an arthropod fossil discovered in Herefordshire, England. The fossil represents a fragmentary section of the underside and an appendage of a pterygotid eurypterid, a group of large and predatory aquatic arthropods that lived from the late Silurian to the late Devonian. The Necrogammarus fossil is Late Silurian in age and its generic name means "dead lobster", deriving from Ancient Greek νεκρός and Latin gammarus ("lobster").
Kampecaris is an extinct genus comprising the Kampecarida, an enigmatic group of millipede-like arthropods, from the Silurian and early Devonian periods of Scotland and England. They 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.
The Fish Bed Formation is a geologic formation in Scotland, United Kingdom. The fluvial to lacustrine sandstones, shales, siltstones and conglomerates preserve flora, arthropods, among which eurypterids, invertebrates and early fish fossils dating back to the Wenlock epoch of the Silurian period.
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