Scientists in Australia have discovered an elongated millipede with more legs than any other known animal.
Eumillipes Persephone was found almost 60 metres underground in a mining region in Western Australia. Photo: BBC screenshot
The pale-coloured millipede has more than 1300 legs in an elongated body about 95mm long.
The creature has been named Eumillipes Persephone, and was found almost 60 metres underground in a mining region in Western Australia.
The previous record-holder was a California millipede species with 750 legs.
"Previously no known millipede actually had 1000 legs despite the name millipede meaning 'thousand feet,'" Virginia Tech entomologist Paul Marek, lead author of the research published in the journal Scientific Reports, told the Reuters news agency.
The animal's scientific name means "true thousand feet". Persephone is a reference to Greek mythology, where the queen of the underworld has that name.
Like many subterranean animals, the millipede has no eyes and is colourless. Scientists suspect that it lives on fungi.
An adult female in the study had 1306 legs and another had 998. Two adult males had 818 legs and 778 legs.
Millipedes first appeared more than 400 million years ago. Today there are around 13,000 species.
"In my opinion this is a stunning animal, a marvel of evolution," said study co-author Bruno Buzatto, a principal biologist at Bennelongia Environmental Consultants in Perth, Australia.
"It represents the most extreme elongation found to date in millipedes, which were the first animals to conquer land."
- BBC