Archidesmus

Archidesmus is an extinct millipede genus from the Lower Devonian Old Red Sandstone of the United Kingdom. It is the only member of the taxonomic family Archidesmidae. Individuals were up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long, and had 60 to 80 body segments decorated with tubercles (bumps) on the upper surface, and most segments possessed wing-like keels (paranota) extending to the side. The type species Archidesmus macnicoli was described by British paleontologist Benjamin Peach in 1882.[1] A second species, A. loganensis was also described by Peach[2] but its status as a valid species- or even a myriapod- is debated.[3]

A. macnicoli illustrations

Archidesmus
Temporal range: Lower Devonian
Archidesmus macnicoli fossil illustration, anterior end is towards the left.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Myriapoda
Class:
Diplopoda
Order:
†Archidesmida
Family:
†Archidesmidae

Scudder, 1885
Genus:
†Archidesmus

Peach, 1882
Type species
Archidesmus macnicoli
Species
  • A. macnicoli
  • A. loganensis (debated)

References
  1. Peach, B. N. (1882). "On some fossil myriapods from the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Forfarshire". Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 7: 177–188.
  2. Peach, B. N. (1899). "On some new myriapods from the Palaeozoic rocks of Scotland". Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 14: 113–126.
  3. Wilson, Heather M.; Anderson, Lyall I. (2004). "Morphology and taxonomy of Paleozoic millipedes (Diplopoda: Chilognatha: Archipolypoda) from Scotland". Journal of Paleontology. 78 (1): 169–184. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0169:MATOPM>2.0.CO;2.


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