THE LARGEST FOSSILIZED MILLIPEDE

 

Written by: Stefano Egas 

This fossil is the third of its kind, but it is also the largest and oldest. These are the remains of a creature called Arthropleura, a species of millipede that lived about 326 million years ago, that is, more than 100 million years before the dinosaurs. 

Measuring 2.7 meters long and weighing approximately 50 kilograms, it is also known as the largest known invertebrate of all time. 👀 The millipede was found by accident on a Northumberland beach, about 60 kilometres north of Newcastle, England. 

Finding fossil remains of giant millipedes is rare, because once they die their bodies tend to disarticulate, so the fossil is likely a moulted shell that the animal shed as it grew. 😲