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Diplopod
Millipedes 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 derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of ''Eumillipes persephone'', which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millipede
Millipedes 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 derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of ''Eumillipes persephone'', which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myriapod
Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian, although molecular evidence suggests a diversification in the Cambrian Period, and Cambrian fossils exist which resemble myriapods. The oldest unequivocal myriapod fossil is of the millipede ''Pneumodesmus newmani'', from the late Silurian (428 million years ago). ''P. newmani'' is also important as the earliest known terrestrial animal. The phylogenetic classification of myriapods is still debated. The scientific study of myriapods is myriapodology, and those who study myriapods are myriapodologists. Anatomy Myriapods have a single pair of antennae and, in most cases, simple eyes. Exceptions are the two classes symphylans and pauropods, and the millipede order Polydesmida and the centipede order Geophilomorpha, which are all eyele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pill Millipede
Pill millipedes are any members of two living (and one extinct) orders of millipedes, often grouped together into a single superorder, Oniscomorpha. The name Oniscomorpha refers to the millipedes' resemblance to certain woodlice (Oniscidea), also called pillbugs or "roly-polies". However, millipedes and woodlice are not closely related (belonging to the subphyla Myriapoda and Crustacea, respectively); rather, this is a case of convergent evolution. Description Pill millipedes are relatively short-bodied compared to most other millipedes, with only eleven to thirteen body segments, and are capable of rolling into a ball (volvation) when disturbed, as a defense against predators. This ability evolved separately in each of the two orders, making it a case of convergent evolution, rather than homology. They can also exude a noxious liquid, which may be both caustic and toxic, to repel predators. Pill millipedes are detritivorous, feeding on decomposing plant matter, usually in wood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthropleura
''Arthropleura'' () is a genus of extinct millipede arthropods that lived in what is now North America and Europe around 345 to 290 million years ago, from the Viséan stage of the lower Carboniferous Period to the Sakmarian stage of the lower Permian Period. The species of the genus are the largest known land invertebrates of all time, and would have had few, if any, predators. Morphology File:20211224 Arthropleura armata anterior.png, Anterior morphology of ''A. armata'' File:20211225 Arthropleura leg associated structures.png, Leg and associated structures File:Millipede anterior anatomy.png, Modern millipede anatomy for comparison File:20211226 Largest Arthropleura.png, Size estimation of the largest specimen ''A. armata'' grew to be long. Tracks from ''Arthropleura'' up to wide have been found at Joggins, Nova Scotia. In 2021 a fossil was reported, probably a shed exoskeleton (exuviae) of an ''Arthropleura'' with an estimated width of , length of to and body mass of . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gonopod
Gonopods are specialized appendages of various arthropods used in reproduction or egg-laying. In males, they facilitate the transfer of sperm from male to female during mating, and thus are a type of intromittent organ. In crustaceans and millipedes, gonopods are modified walking or swimming legs. Gonopods may be highly decorated with elaborate structures which may play roles in sperm competition, and can be used to differentiate and identify closely related species. Gonopods generally occur in one or more pairs, as opposed to the single (un-paired) reproductive organs such as the aedeagus of insects or the Opiliones penis, penis of harvestmen. Insects In insects, gonopods are appendages of the genital segment that may be used in insemination, or that comprise the egg-laying apparatus. Crustaceans In male decapoda, decapod crustaceans, gonopods are modified swimming appendages (pleopods). The anterior two pair of pleopods in males are modified for sperm transferring, with dif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bristle Millipede
Polyxenida is an order of millipedes readily distinguished by a unique body plan consisting of a soft, non-calcified body ornamented with tufts of bristles – traits that have inspired the common names "bristly millipedes" or "pincushion millipedes". There are at least 86 species in four families worldwide, and are the only living members of the subclass Penicillata. Description Polyxenida differ from other millipedes in having a soft, non-calcified exoskeleton, unique tufts of bristles or setae, fewer legs (no more than 17 pairs), and an absence of copulatory appendages in males. Individuals are small, not exceeding 7 millimeters (0.28 inches). Adults in most species have 13 pairs of legs, but in one species ('' Lophoturus madecassus''), they have only 11 pairs of legs, and in one genus (''Phryssonotus''), they have 17 pairs of legs, except for one species (''Phryssonotus brevicapensis'') in which they (along with those in one other species, '' Condexenus biramipalpus'') hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henri Marie Ducrotay De Blainville
Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist. Life Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. As a young man he went to Paris to study art, but ultimately devoted himself to natural history. He attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally substituted as lecturer at the Collège de France and at the Athenaeum Club, London. In 1812 he was aided by Cuvier in acquiring the position of assistant professor of anatomy and zoology in the Faculty of Sciences at Paris. Eventually, relations between the two men soured, a situation that ended in open enmity. In 1819, Blainville was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. In 1825 he was admitted a member of the French Academy of Sciences; and in 1830 he was appointed to succeed Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in the chair of natural history at the museum. Two years later, on the death of Cuvier, he obtained the chair of comparative a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritivore
Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants that carry out coprophagy. By doing so, all these detritivores contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles. They should be distinguished from other decomposers, such as many species of bacteria, fungi and protists, which are unable to ingest discrete lumps of matter, but instead live by absorbing and metabolizing on a molecular scale (saprotrophic nutrition). The terms ''detritivore'' and ''decomposer'' are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomposers to perform the second stage of reminerali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tree. History The theoretical frame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pauropod
Pauropods are small, pale, millipede-like arthropods. Around 830 species in twelve families are found worldwide, living in soil and leaf mold. They look rather like centipedes, or millipedes, and may be a sister group of the latter. However, this is controversial, as a close relationship with Symphyla has also been posited. Anatomy and ecology Pauropods are soft, cylindrical animals with bodies long. They have neither eyes nor hearts, although they do have sensory organs which can detect light. The body segments have ventral tracheal/spiracular pouches forming apodemes similar to those in millipedes and Symphyla, although the trachea usually connected to these structures are absent in most species. There are long sensory hairs located throughout the body segments. Pauropods can usually be identified because of their distinctive anal plate, which is unique to pauropods. Different species of pauropods can be identified based on the size and shape of their anal plate. The antenn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archispirostreptus Gigas
''Archispirostreptus gigas'', known as the giant African millipede or shongololo, is the largest extant species of millipede, growing up to in length, in circumference. It has approximately 256 legs, although the number of legs changes with each molting so it can vary according to each individual. It is a widespread species in lowland parts of East Africa, from Mozambique to Kenya, but rarely reaches altitudes above . It lives mostly in forests, but can also be found in areas of coastal habitat that contain at least a few trees. It is native to Southern Arabia, especially Dhofar. In general, giant millipedes have a life expectancy of about 7–10 years. Giant millipedes have two main modes of defence if they feel threatened: curling into a tight spiral exposing only the hard exoskeleton, and secretion of an irritating liquid from pores on their body. This liquid can be harmful if introduced into the eyes or mouth. Because of this defense, ''A. gigas'' is one of the few inverteb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colonization Of The Land
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as ''Ga'', for ''gigaannum'') and evidence suggests that life emerged prior to 3.7 Ga. Although there is some evidence of life as early as 4.1 to 4.28 Ga, it remains controversial due to the possible non-biological formation of the purported fossils. The similarities among all known present-day species indicate that they have diverged through the process of evolution from a common ancestor. Only a very small percentage of species have been identified: one estimate claims that Earth may have 1 trillion species. * However, only 1.75–1.8 million have been named "A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 9, 2014, Section SR, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Prehistory's Brilliant Future." and 1.8 million documented in a central database. These currently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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