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Photo: Neil Davies / dpa
A fossil of a gigantic millipede, discovered by chance in England, made headlines in Great Britain on Tuesday.
The remains of the animal were found in the fallen part of a cliff in Northumberland, England, by a former Cambridge University student while walking on the beach in 2018.
"It was a completely coincidental find," said Neil Davies of the Department of Earth Sciences, according to a press release from the University of Cambridge.
The sandstone block was split in exactly the right place.
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The site on Howick Beach in Northumberland, a good 60 kilometers north of Newcastle
Photo: Neil Davies / dpa
According to scientists at Cambridge University, it is the largest known fossil of the genus Arthropleura, the largest invertebrate that has ever lived on earth. It dates from the Carboniferous Age 326 million years ago, about 100 million years before the appearance of the dinosaurs. The researchers, who published their findings in the "Journal of the Geological Society", assume that the animal ate nutrient-rich nuts and seeds in the tropical climate, and possibly also hunted other invertebrates or small amphibians. The 75 centimeter long fossilized millipede fragment is to be exhibited in Cambridge next year.
"It was a tremendously exciting find, but the fossil is so big that the four of us could only carry it over the rock face," Davies said.
It is only the third such find.
The other two come from Thuringia, they are significantly smaller and younger.
The researchers consider the English site to be an earlier river bed.
Well under 1000 feet
Possibly it is not the fossil of the deceased animal itself, but only the remains of a shell that was shaken off as it grew.
"These giant millipede fossils are rare to find because when they died their bodies tended to disintegrate," Davies said.
"We haven't found a petrified head yet, so it's hard to know all about her."
According to the current state of research, the arthropleura lived on earth for around 45 million years in what was then tropical latitudes. Their growth has long been attributed to the high oxygen content of the air at the time. The more recent finds in rocks from before the oxygen level reached its peak, however, cast doubts on this theory. Animals died out in the Permian era. Global warming at the time and the resulting dry climate as well as the emergence of reptiles as food competitors are discussed as reasons.
Just a few days ago, another, still living species of millipede made a name for itself: The species Eumillipes persephone, discovered in a borehole in Australia, lives up to its name for the first time.
Researchers counted 1,306 legs on one specimen.
So far, only millipedes with up to 750 legs were known.
The Northumberland fossil only had between 32 and 64 legs, according to Cambridge University.
ak / dpa