Posted on 12/16/2021 8:47:48 AM PST by Red Badger
A new species of millipede, Eumillipes persephone, which has up to 1,306 legs – the most of any animal ever knownThe first true millipede—1,306 legs long, Paul E. Marek, Bruno A. Buzatto, William A. Shear, Jackson C. Means, Dennis G. Black, Mark S. Harvey, Juanita Rodriguez, Scientific Reports VIEW 2 IMAGES
Most millipedes are frauds – despite their name being Latin for “thousand legs,” they usually only have a few hundred at most. But a newly discovered species is the first to really earn its name with well over 1,000 legs, far more than any other creature on the planet.
Millipedes commonly have between 34 and 400 legs, but the previous record holder – a species called Illacme plenipes – sports over 600 legs on average, with one particularly leggy individual boasting 750. It must be feeling a bit inadequate now though, in the face of the new species which gets around on a frankly unnecessary 1,306 legs.
To reflect its achievement, the newcomer has been officially named Eumillipes persephone – the first part meaning “true thousand foot” in Latin. Persephone, meanwhile, was the Greek goddess of the underworld, and that’s in reference to where the creature was discovered.
The new millipede was found in drill holes up to 60 m (200 ft) underground, in the mining region of Eastern Goldfields Province in Western Australia. The team examined four specimens and found that their bodies have up to 330 segments, measuring up to 95.7 mm (3.8 in) long and just under 1 mm (0.04 in) wide. Their heads are cone-shaped, with no eyes, a beak and a pair of large antennae.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
Dang overachievers.
Yup! Australia. Miss you Steve.
Imagine the difficulties Mom and Pop Eumillipes face in keeping their kids properly shod.........................
Check congress. They’ve got a lot of creepy crawlers there.
“New”?
Are the specimens only recovered from drill cuttings? I’d think that would make it very difficult to determine which fragments belong to an individual millipede.
Counting “millipede” legs — the next rung up the promotional ladder from guessing people’s weight or barking for the Yak woman.
Facts proven it has more than two left feet?
Remarkable, and it can still dance!
I would imagine Athlete’s Foot could be fatal.............
Australia................ And it will probably kill you.................
They like to build their dens under the beds of sleeping children. Then when their hatchlings are large enough, they swarm upwards, their venom paralyzing the child until they are covered by a millipede blanket.
You tell that to a kid and you will never ever get them to go to bed ever again!...............
Sort of reminds me of a South Park episode I saw once.
Or a party at Laz’s house.............
“How badly do you want that PhD, Phil?”
Did they pull the legs off one by one to count them?
If they have over 1000 legs, shouldn’t they be sued for having a misleading name?
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