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Palaeontology

Prehistoric millipede was the size of a car

By T.K. Randall
December 21, 2021 · Comment icon 29 comments



As if today's millipedes weren't bad enough... Image Credit: Neil Davies
Palaeontologists have announced the discovery of a truly gigantic millipede on a beach in England.
The gargantuan arthropod was discovered quite by accident when a large chunk of sandstone crumbled from a cliffside in Northumbria and ended up on a beach.

"It was a complete fluke of a discovery," said study lead author Neil Davies from the University of Cambridge. "The way the boulder had fallen, it had cracked open and perfectly exposed the fossil, which one of our former PhD students happened to spot when walking by."

Believed to date back 326 million years, the millipede - which measured over 8ft in length - would have easily been among the largest creatures to walk the Earth at that time.
"These would have been the biggest animals on land in the Carboniferous," Davies told Gizmodo.

Incredibly, the fossil is believed to be that of the creature's discarded carapace, meaning that the millipede itself might have grown to be much bigger.

The largest living specimen at the time must have been truly monstrous.



Source: Gizmodo | Comments (29)


Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #20 Posted by jmccr8 1 year ago
Get A pair of them strap on on each foot and go off roading.
Comment icon #21 Posted by Manwon Lender 1 year ago
Yes I have eaten things that would scare most people during my travels around the world!
Comment icon #22 Posted by Manwon Lender 1 year ago
Honestly not really. But they all taste the same just like Chicken!
Comment icon #23 Posted by Abramelin 1 year ago
All 'peer reviewed', no doubt.
Comment icon #24 Posted by Manwon Lender 1 year ago
what the hell is a peer reviewed taste!
Comment icon #25 Posted by Abramelin 1 year ago
I don't know; I expected a link from you to a 'pear reviewed paper' :  
Comment icon #26 Posted by Alpic 1 year ago
How did it get enough oxygen? Maybe it pumped air through its body when moving, like a giant lung.
Comment icon #27 Posted by Abramelin 1 year ago
The oxygen level was lots higher back then.
Comment icon #28 Posted by Alpic 1 year ago
Yes, but was it high enough to make up for that body size?
Comment icon #29 Posted by Abramelin 1 year ago
Maybe that's why they eventually died out? Shortness of breath...  


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