''Burmanopetalum'' is an extinct genus of

millipede 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 ...

containing the single species ''Burmanopetalum inexpectatum'' from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. It is a member of the order Callipodida and is the only member of the suborder Burmanopetalidea and family Burmanopetalidae.

Description

The holotype adult female specimen is just over 8 millimetres long, which is extremely small for the order, it is distinguished by the presence of 35 cylindrical body rings with free

sternites The sternum (: sterna) is the ventral portion of a segment of an arthropod thorax or abdomen. In insects, the sterna are usually single, large sclerites, and external. However, they can sometimes be divided in two or more, in which case the sub ...

and fused tergites, among other characters.

Discovery

The specimen was discovered in

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. Th ...

, a productive amber deposit in Kachin State, which has been dated to earliest

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

, or approximately 99 million years old. As of the time of publication, it is the only known callipodid in the Burmese amber out of 529 known millipede specimens, most of which belong to extant families and even genera.

References

Burmese amber Callipodida Cretaceous animals of Asia {{Millipede-stub