doIt was an irrational moment. More than three hundred million years ago, dragonflies were the size of our eagles and scorpions were the size of our dogs. Paleontologists call this phenomenon “Paleozoic gigantism” and discuss its causes. Some see the effect of excess oxygen in the atmosphere during the Carboniferous (between 358 and 298 million years ago). Others observe that arthropods, the first animals to emerge from the waters, have not suffered competition for access to plant resources for a long time. Alone in the bar they would have gotten a lot of use out of it.
Iarthropleura is an emblematic example. Since 1854 and the discovery in Britain of the creature’s first fossil segments, the giant centipede has fascinated. How did he live? What was he eating? And now, who exactly was this segmented and elongated creature of almost 3 meters? This is because the term “centipede” is not scientific.
Myriapods – their correct name – have subphylums that hide more than five thousand species grouped into four classes. To name the two main ones, the Anglo-Saxons chose centipede AND millipede. Simple and clear, although the latter do not necessarily have ten times more segments than the former.
Disturbed landscape
As is often the case, French, in the absence of a common name, relies on scientific names, specifically chilopods and diplopods. The difference between the two? As for the body, what stands out essentially is the fact that the latter have two pairs of legs per segment, while the former only have one… For this reason, in view of the exhumed fossils, Artopleura had been clearly classified among the diplopods.
An article published on Wednesday, October 9 in the magazine Scientific advances by an international team coordinated by the Lyon geology laboratory, is shaking the landscape. Not only is the giant crawler not a simple diplopod, but the entire phylogenetic tree of centipedes will have to be reviewed.
In fact, French paleontologists managed to uncover two nodules found in coal mining operations in Montceau-les-Mines (Saône-et-Loire) in the early 1980s, as amateur paleontologists reported at the time. , had understood that the 4 centimeters long fossils, which had been split in two, hid a arthropleura youth. But there was no question of continuing with the salami, at the risk of destroying everything. Even less penetrate the rock to read its interior; no technique allowed it. The stones were therefore inactive in the reserves of the Museum of Autun (Saone et Loire).
You have 42.44% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
