Zosterogrammidae is an extinct family of millipedes containing three

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, each with a single species.

Fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...

are known from the Czech Republic, Scotland, and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Zosterogrammidae constitutes the sole family of the order Zosterogrammida.

Description

Zosterogrammids have broad heads, 20 to 32 body segments, with a body tapering towards the head and rear. The dorsal plates of each segment are very broad and the rear portion of each is segment ornamented with lines. Size ranges from to in length. Superficially they are similar to the living

Polyzoniida __NOTOC__ Polyzoniida is an order of millipedes in the Class_(biology)#Hierarchy_of_ranks_below_and_above_the_level_of_class, subterclass Colobognatha containing three families and at least 74 described species. Description Polyzoniidans have a ...

in body proportion.

Taxonomy and distribution

Zosterogrammidae is placed in its own order, Zosterogrammida. Zosterogrammida is considered '' incertae sedis'' (uncertain placement) within the millipede subclass

Chilognatha Chilognatha is a subclass of the class Diplopoda, which includes the vast majority of extant millipedes, about 12,000 species. Taxonomy The classification of Chilognatha presented below is based on Shear, 2011, and Shear & Edgecombe, 2010 (exti ...

. :Family †Zosterogrammidae Wilson, 2005 :: ''Casiogrammus ichthyeros'' Wilson, 2005 - Lanarkshire, Scotland; Wenlock (Silurian) :: ''Purkynia lata'' Fritsch, 1899 -

Nýřany Nýřany (; german: Nürschan) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Doubrava and Kamenný Újezd are administrative parts of Nýřany. Geo ...

, Czech Republic; Westphalian (Upper Carboniferous) :: ''Zosterogrammus stichostethus'' Wilson, 2005 - Illinois, USA;

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

(Upper Carboniferous)

References

Millipede families Silurian myriapods Devonian myriapods Carboniferous myriapods Wenlock first appearances Pennsylvanian extinctions {{carboniferous-animal-stub