Researchers have discovered a new species of millipede lurking in a California cave.
The pale, thread-like arthropod has 414 legs and four "penises," which are actually limbs that have evolved into structures that transfer sperm.
The millipede, which lives in a marble cavern, the Lange Cave in Sequoia National Park, was discovered in October 2006 by cave biologist Jean Krejca, who is now connected with Zara Environmental in Texas. Krejca sent the specimen to be analyzed by millipede specialists, who later realized that the skinny little creature measuring about 20 millimeters long is something new.
Efforts to find more specimens of this new species around Lange Cave and 63 other locations in the Sierra Nevada following the discovery were unfortunately in vain. Researchers have only found a single specimen of this species, a male, so scientists still have no clear idea what the females of this species look like.
The species belongs to the genus Illacme, which notably only has one other species to have ever been discovered, the llacme plenipes, which thrives in the San Benito County, California, 150 miles away from the Lange Cave. llacme plenipes features 750 legs, making it the world's leggiest millipede.
The researchers said they do not expect to find a second species of the world's leggiest animal in a cave just 150 miles away. The newly described millipede was named Illacme tobini, after Grand Canyon National Park cave specialist Ben Tobin, who organized the survey that led to the discovery of the creature.
While the newly found species only have 414 legs, far fewer than its relative's 750, both of these creatures has similar odd anatomical features. The body of both comes with 200 poison glands and silk-secreting hairs.
The brand-new species also has bizarre-looking mouthparts and paired nozzles on each of its segments that were found to produce an unidentified substance suspected as a chemical defense to protect itself against predators.
"Illacme tobini sp. n. is a short-range endemic restricted to the base of Yucca Mountain between the North and Marble forks of the Kaweah River in Sequoia National Park, California. The species is only known to occur in one small cave, though its range is likely to include the MSS," Krejca and colleagues wrote in a paper describing the new species which was published in the journal Zookeys on Oct. 20.
"Management of this species should include careful consideration of activities that may impact the surface or subsurface."
