An undated handout image shows a reconstruction of a juvenile Arthropleura, integrating newly observed head anatomical features. The image also has (A) Dorsal view; (B) Ventral view; (C) Back view; and (D) Frontal view. Left maxillae were removed on (B) to better illustrate the mandible below.
What's as big as an alligator, with the body of a millipede, the head of a centipede and the eyestalks of a crab? That would be Arthropleura, believed to be the largest bug to ever exist. But fear not, it's been extinct for more 300 million years.Scientists have recreated the head of an Arthropleura, the oldest bug to ever walk the Earth, using detailed CT scans of a well-preserved juvenile fossil solidified in mineral.
The discoveries hail from two fossils found in a French coal field in the 1980s, preserved in a lump of the solidified mineral. "You also have dragonflies that could reach the size of an eagle, or scorpions that could reach the size of a small dog," Lhéritier said.is anything like a modern millipede, the shape of its head likely didn't change much as it grew, likely to about 20 centimetres in width.
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