Arthropleura
Arthropleura was a giant millipede that lived long before the dinosaurs. It could grow as long as a car, making it the biggest land bug ever! It crawled through ancient forests near water.1
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Fun facts
Arthropleura is the largest known land arthropod of all time, reaching at least 2 metres (6.5 feet) long.1
It left giant trackways up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) wide, which are fossilized footprints of its many legs.1
Its head had features of both millipedes and centipedes, showing it was a mix of both groups.2
Arthropleura lived in open, sparsely wooded areas near water and may have been able to go on land and in water.1
It was a slow mover, not a fast runner like centipedes, based on its short legs and trackways.2
Some Arthropleura fossils are so well preserved that scientists can see the details of its head and mouthparts using special scanners.2
Most asked questions about Arthropleura
?How big was Arthropleura?
About 2 metres (6.5 feet) long, possibly up to 2.63 metres (8.6 feet). That makes it the largest known land arthropod of all time.12
?What did Arthropleura eat?
It probably ate dead plants and other detritus, like modern millipedes. It did not have venom fangs or legs for catching prey.5
?Was Arthropleura a dinosaur?
No, it was a giant millipede, not a dinosaur. It lived long before the dinosaurs, from about 344 to 292 million years ago.1
?Could Arthropleura swim?
It may have been amphibious, meaning it could live both on land and in water. It lived in open, sparsely wooded areas near water.1
?How fast could Arthropleura move?
It was a slow mover. Its short legs and trackways suggest it did not run fast like centipedes.5
?Did Arthropleura have a head?
Yes, and scientists recently used special scanners to see its head in detail. It had antennae, mandibles, and two pairs of maxillae.2
?When did Arthropleura go extinct?
It died out around 292 million years ago, during the early Permian period.1
?Where did Arthropleura live?
It lived in what is now Europe and North America, in open, sparsely wooded forests near water.1
?Is Arthropleura related to centipedes?
It is a millipede, but its head has features of both millipedes and centipedes, showing it was a mix of both groups.5
?How much did Arthropleura weigh?
One large fossil suggests it weighed about 50 kilograms (110 pounds), as heavy as a small human.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Arthropleura was a giant centipede that hunted other animals.
Truth: Arthropleura was actually a millipede, and it was likely a slow plant-eater, not a predator.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Arthropleura
- Named by
- (Jordan 1854)6
- Group
- Prehistoric legends
- Family / clade
- Arthropleuridae6
- Classification
- Myriapoda > Arthropleurida > Arthropleuridae6
- Age of the rocks
- 347 to 290 million years (Visean / Sakmarian)6
- Rock formations
- Saarbrucker layers, Farrington6
- Countries
- Germany, France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, USA6
- Fossil records
- 61 in the Paleobiology Database6
- Discovery
- Arthropleura was first named by Jordan in 1854, based on fossils found in Europe.3
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Arthropleura was a true millipede or a more primitive relative, and they are not sure exactly what it ate.2
Where the facts come from
- Arthropleura (en.wikipedia.org)
- Head anatomy and phylogenomics show the Carboniferous giant Arthropleura belonged to a millipede-centipede group (science.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Millipedes ‘as big as cars’ once roamed England | University of Cambridge (cam.ac.uk)
- Largest ever millipede’s head revealed by 300-million-year-old fossils | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Arthropleura in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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