Researchers have uncovered a new genus and five new species of millipedes in remote African jungles – and say the many-legged creatures could hold important clues to whether woody vines are choking or protecting the world’s forests.
University of the Sunshine Coast Professor Andy Marshall said they found the millipedes – with heads that look somewhat like Star Wars characters – among forest litter and loose soil while researching tree and vine growth in the Tanzania’s remote Udzungwa Mountains.
The new genus and species were officially described recently in the European Journal of Taxonomy in a paper titled “A mountain of millipedes,” with six international collaborators including lead author Professor Henrik Enghoff of the University of Copenhagen.
Leave a reply