Biodiversity hotspots: Rediscovery of the world's leggiest animal

@article{Marek2006BiodiversityHR,
  title={Biodiversity hotspots: Rediscovery of the world's leggiest animal},
  author={Paul E. Marek and Jason E. Bond},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2006},
  volume={441},
  pages={707-707}
}
The millipede species Illacme plenipes comes the closest to having its namesake's mythical 1,000 legs — individuals can bear up to 750 legs. Here we record the rediscovery of this extremely rare species, which has not been reported since its original description some 80 years ago, at a tiny locality of 0.8 km2 in San Benito County, California. Because of the rarity and narrow geographical range of this delicate species, its fragile habitat must be protected at all costs. 
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20 Citations
Background Citations
8
Methods Citations
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20 Citations

The order Siphonophorida – A taxonomist’s nightmare? Lessons from a Brazilian collection
Recent study of a collection of over 300 specimens of Siphonophoridae from Brazil, comprising several morphotypes/species, has allowed comparison between and within ‘species’. Published descriptions…
A redescription of the leggiest animal, the millipede Illacme plenipes, with notes on its natural history and biogeography (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida, Siphonorhinidae)
TLDR
A detailed redescription of the millipede Illacme plenipes, natural history notes, DNA barcodes, and a predictive occurrence map of the species inferred using niche based distribution modeling are provided.
Rediscovery of the southern California endemic American Keeled Slug Anadenulus cockerelli (Hemphill, 1890) after a 68-year hiatus
ABSTRACT We report the first records of the southern California endemic American Keeled Slug Anadenulus cockerelli (Hemphill, 1890) in 68 years. Due to the restricted range of this species and lack…
A new species of Illacme Cook & Loomis, 1928 from Sequoia National Park, California, with a world catalog of the Siphonorhinidae (Diplopoda, Siphonophorida)
TLDR
The discovery of a second species of Illacme, a millipede genus notable for possessing the greatest number of legs of any known animal on the planet, is reported.
Current status of the Myriapod class diplopoda (millipedes): taxonomic diversity and phylogeny.
TLDR
The first combined morphological and molecular analysis of the millipede orders is presented, and a list of critically evaluated characteristics of nominal clades identifying putative apomorphies is presented.
Myriapods (Myriapoda). Chapter 7.2
TLDR
The introduction of some species into Europe could have begun already in historical times with an increase in trade between ancient Greeks and Romans with cities in the Near East and North Africa, and with the trade between Europe and some tropical countries, especially after the discoveries of the Americas and Australia.
"Open access" growth histories in millipedes (Diplopoda).
One hundred million years of stasis: Siphonophora hui sp. nov., the first Mesozoic sucking millipede (Diplopoda: Siphonophorida) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber
A tarsal spinning organ in glomeridesmid millipedes (Diplopoda: Pentazonia: Glomeridesmida)
TLDR
This work describes thread-producing glands from the species-poor Glomeridesmida and suggests that the secretion might be used for defense, to build molting chambers or to secure tunnels burrowed in the substrate.
The first true millipede—1306 legs long
TLDR
Using phylogenomics, it is found that super-elongation evolved repeatedly in the millipede class Diplopoda, and the striking morphological similarity between E. persephone and I. plenipes is a result of convergent evolution, probably for locomotion in similar soil habitats.
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