22
Shake a Leg
Can you imagine coming home after a hard day to be greeted by two alligator-sized
millipedes? These millipedes, which seem to have made themselves at home, are
Arthropleura
. They lived in the Carboniferous period more than 300 million years ago.
Scientists think they grew so big because there was lots of oxygen in the atmosphere.
There were also no big predators living on land for
Arthropleura
to deal with.
(The big predators were all in the sea!)
Scientists aren’t completely sure what these giants ate. If
Arthropleura
had been a
carnivore, it would have needed strong, hard mouthparts, and these fossilize well.
But none have ever been found, so scientists think it was probably a herbivore.
So whoever lives in this house need not be too alarmed. The
Arthropleura
aren’t after them—the bizarre visitors probably
just want a quick munch at the fruit bowl
or the house plants!
Arthropleura
PRONOUNCED
Ar-throw-PLOO-rah
LIVED
Eastern North America
and Western Europe,
355 million–300 million
years ago
LENGTH
Up to 7 feet, 6 inches
(2.3 m)
Arthropleura
Stretch your legs
Like many modern
millipedes,
Arthropleura
might have eaten dead plant
matter. So maybe these
two should see if there’s a
compost heap in the garden.
It would be a chance for them
to stretch their legs—
all forty of them!
END TO END
The biggest millipedes
of today, such as
Archispirostreptus gigas
of East Africa, reach only
around 12 inches (30 cm)
long. You would need to put
seven or eight of these end
to end to match the length
of
Arthropleura.
