This blind Australian millipede measures at 95 millimeters long, but breaks the record with having 1,306 legs. Scientists found the insect deep underground in an exploratory hole in a mining region of Australia. The scientists consider it a “marvel of evolution,” as the millipede possesses the most legs of any known animal.
At only 95 millimetres long and about four-hundredths of an inch wide, the animal is fairly tiny. It has a conical head, beak-shaped mouth, and large antennae. The antennae are most likely its only source of sensory input as it does not have eyes.
Paul Marek, a Virginia Tech entomologist and lead author of the research said “previously no known millipede actually had 1,000 legs despite the name millipede meaning ‘thousand feet,’”
Co-author Bruno Buzato explains “it represents the most extreme elongation found to date in millipedes, which were the first animals to conquer land. Ans this species in particular managed to adapt to living tens of metres deep in the soil, in an arid and harsh landscape where it is very hard to find any millipedes surviving in the surface,”
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