The creature was found about six meters underground in a well created for mineral exploration in the mining area of the Australian region of Eastern Goldfields, scientists said in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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“We report the discovery of E. persephone, the first super-elongated millipede known from Australia and the new world record holder as the animal with the largest number of legs,” they said in a study quoted by The Guardian.
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The researchers examined four specimens of the newly described species and found that these “thousand-legged” were without eyes, had short legs and conical heads with tentacles and a kind of “beak”.
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“These are features that are in stark contrast to his closest relatives living on the surface in Australia and all the other members of his order,” added Australian and American experts, led by Paul E. Mark of Virginia Tech.
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The animals are up to 0.9 millimeters wide and 9.6 centimeters long.
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Tens of thousands of unknown species
According to scientists, the newly described species is distantly related to the previous record holder in the largest number of legs, the California millipede Illacme plenipes, which can have up to 750 legs.
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Millipedes have lived on our planet for more than 400 million years. Although about 12,000 species are known, with some extinct species growing to a length of two meters, experts say there are still almost 80,000 other species that have not yet been described.
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Millipedes are not centipedes
Diplopoda, although, like their distant relatives, the centipedes (Chilopoda) are also arthropods from the subspecies of centipedes, despite perhaps a bit confusing Czech names, they are usually significantly “leggy” than the well-known centipedes.
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Millipedes have four legs on each part of the body, centipedes only two.
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But the important difference lies in the behavior – centipedes are predators equipped with large mandibles and behave aggressively, while millipedes are generally slow, calm and herbivorous.
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