First millipede discovered with more than 1000 feet

Updated December 16, 2021, 5:02 pm.

• It’s a disappointing finding: Even though millipedes have numbers in their names, they don’t actually have a thousand legs.
• However, researchers have now discovered a new species.
• And it lives up to its name.

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Contrary to earlier belief, some millipedes live up to their name. A team led by Paul Marek of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, US, wrote in the journal “Scientific Reports” that a copy of the newly discovered species, Eumileps persephone, has 1,306 legs.

The species is the first known millipede to exceed 1,000 feet. The previous record holder only came up to 750.

Newly discovered millipedes have no eyes

The now discovered species was discovered in a 60-metre-deep borehole in Australia. Marek’s researchers measured four specimens of the new species. It has a thread-like body consisting of 330 segments and can be up to 10 cm long.

Millipedes have no eyes, short legs, and a conical head. Researchers believe that their many segments and legs give the animals the opportunity to squeeze through narrow openings in the earth in which they live. (FF/DPA)