Archipolypoda is an extinct group of

millipedes Millipedes (originating from the Latin , "thousand", and , "foot") are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derive ...

known from fossils in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and containing the earliest known land animals. The Archipolypoda was erected by

Scudder Scudder, a surname, may refer to: People * Bernard Scudder, translator from Icelandic to English * Edward W. Scudder (1822-1893), Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court * Eliza Scudder (1821-1896), American hymnwriter * Horace Scudder, America ...

(1882) but redefined in 2005 with the description of several new species from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Distinguishing characteristics include relatively large eyes with densely packed

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

(sometimes interpreted as

compound eyes A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distin ...

), and modified leg pairs on the 8th body ring. Some species had prominent spines while others had a flattened appearance.

Classification

The Archipolypoda as currently recognized consists of four orders, many with

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

families and genera, as well as five species of uncertain placement (''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''). Archidesmida Wilson & Anderson, 2004 * Archidesmidae Scudder, 1885 **'' Archidesmus macnicoli'' Peach, 1882.

Lower Devonian The Early Devonian is the first of three epochs comprising the Devonian period, corresponding to the Lower Devonian series. It lasted from and began with the Lochkovian Stage , which was followed by the Pragian from and then by the Emsian, whic ...

* Zanclodesmidae Wilson, Daeschler & Desbiens, 2005 **'' Zanclodesmus willetti'' Wilson, Daeschler & Desbiens, 2005. Upper Devonian,

Quebec, Canada Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

**'' Orsadesmus rubecollus'' Wilson, Daeschler & Desbiens, 2005. Upper Devonian, Pennsylvania, USA Cowiedesmida Wilson & Anderson, 2004 * Cowiedesmidae Wilson & Anderson, 2004 **'' Cowiedesmus eroticopodus'' Wilson & Anderson, 2004. Mid

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

or Lower Devonian,

. Euphoberiida Hoffman, 1969 *

Euphoberiidae Euphoberiidae is an extinct family of archipolypodan millipedes known from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Europe and North America. The family includes relatively large millipedes measuring up to long bearing distinctive spines and were the dominan ...

Scudder, 1882.

Upper Carboniferous Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...

and North America. **'' Acantherpestes'' Meek & Worthen, 1868 **'' Euphoberia'' Meek & Worthen, 1868 **'' Myriacantherpestes'' Burke, 1979

Palaeosomatida ''Palaeosoma'' is an extinct genus of archipolypodan millipedes from the upper Carboniferous of England and Poland. Individuals grew to nearly long and possessed defensive glands ( ozopores) located on small raised nodes on the outer edges of ...

Hannibal & Krzeminski, 2005.

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

, UK and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* Palaeosomatidae Hannibal & Krzeminski, 2005 **''

Palaeosoma ''Palaeosoma'' is an extinct genus of archipolypodan millipedes from the upper Carboniferous of England and Poland. Individuals grew to nearly long and possessed defensive glands (ozopores) located on small raised nodes on the outer edges of t ...

''
Order ''incertae sedis'' *'' Albadesmus almondi'' Wilson & Anderson, 2004 Mid

or Lower Devonian,

*'' Anaxeodesmus diambonotus'' Wilson, 2005

, UK. *'' Anthracodesmus macconochiei'', Peach, 1899 *'' Palaeodesmus tuberculata'' (Brade-Birks, 1923) (=''

Kampecaris ''Kampecaris'' is an extinct genus comprising the Kampecarida, an enigmatic group of millipede-like arthropods, from the Silurian and early Devonian periods of Scotland and England. They are among the oldest known land-dwelling animals. They were ...

tuberculata'')

. *''

Pneumodesmus newmani ''Pneumodesmus newmani'' is a species of myriapod. It is originally considered that it lived during the late Wenlock epoch of the Silurian period around . However, a 2017 study dates its occurrence based on zircon data analysis as the Early De ...

'' Wilson & Anderson, 2004 Mid

or Lower Devonian,

References

External links

Archipolypoda- The Virtual Fossil MuseumFossil find 'oldest land animal'- BBC News
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16243060 Millipede taxonomy Arthropod superorders Devonian myriapods Carboniferous myriapods Silurian myriapods Wenlock first appearances Pennsylvanian extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1882 Taxa named by Samuel Hubbard Scudder

Classification

See also

References

External links