World's leggiest millipede put under microscope

The anatomical secrets of the world's leggiest creature, a millipede with 750 legs, have been revealed by scientists.

The species, called Illacme plenipes, was first seen 80 years ago but was recently rediscovered in California.

Now researchers have found that as well as bearing an extreme number of legs, the creature may have more in common with millipedes that lived millions of years ago than today's species.

The study is published in the journal ZooKeys.

"It's a kind of mythical creature in the millipede world," said Dr Paul Marek, an entomologist from the University of Arizona and the lead author of the paper.

Record breaker

In 2005, Dr Marek and his brother discovered some of the leggy arthropods lurking under boulders in the mountains of California. Until then, I.plenipes had not been glimpsed since 1926.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20319140