''Gosodesmus'' is a genus of

platydesmida Platydesmida (Greek for ''platy'' "flat" and ''desmos'' "bond") is an order of millipedes containing two families and over 60 species. Some species practice paternal care, in which males guard the eggs. Description Platydesmidans have a flatte ...

n millipede, described by

Ralph V. Chamberlin Ralph Vary Chamberlin (January 3, 1879October 31, 1967) was an American biologist, ethnographer, and historian from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a faculty member of the University of Utah for over 25 years, where he helped establish the School of ...

in 1922, that is widely distributed in the U.S. state of California. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, ''Gosodesmus claremontus, ''commonly known as the pink feather boa millipede. Individuals vary in color from bright pink to coral, and may possess a black or purple dorsal stripe. Body length ranges from , with up to 81 body segments. ''Gosodesmus claremontus'' occurs on the

Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...

as well as the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

, and is often found within rotted wood, especially oaks. In 2020, chemist Dr. Tappey Jones at Virginia Military Institute and colleagues, discovered a novel natural product and alkaloid in the chemical defense secretion of ''G. claremontus'': (1), 7-(4-methylpent-3-en-1-yl)-1,2,3,5,8,8a-hexahydroindolizine, known as gosodesmine.

References

Millipedes of North America Endemic fauna of California Animals described in 1922 Monotypic arthropod genera Platydesmida {{Myriapoda-stub