Myriacantherpestes

Myriacantherpestes
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous
M. hystricosus fossil, National Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Diplopoda
Superorder:
†Archipolypoda
Order:
†Euphoberiida
Family:
†Euphoberiidae
Genus:
†Myriacantherpestes

Burke, 1979
Type species
Acantherpestes ferox
Salter 1863
Species

M. bradebirksi Burke 1979
M. clarkorum (Burke 1973)
M. excrescens (Janssen 1940)
M. ferox (Salter 1863)
M. hystricosus (Scudder 1890)
M. inequalis (Scudder 1890)

Myriacantherpestes is an extinct genus of spiny millipedes from the Pennsylvanian subperiod of the Carboniferous period, known from fossils in Europe and North America.

Description

Two illustrations of M. ferox fossils

Like other Euphoberiids, Myriacantherpestes had prominent dorsal and lateral spines. Myriacantherpestes differs from other members of Euphoberiidae in part by having much longer lateral spines.[1]

Taxonomic history

Several species currently assigned to Myriacantherpestes were formerly in the genera Acantherpestes and Euphoberia.[1] The species M. excrescens was originally described as a fossilized cycad seed.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Burke, J.J. (1979). "A new millipede genus, Myriacantherpestes (Diplopoda, Archipolypoda), and Myriacantherpestes bradebirksi, new species, from the English UK Coal Measures". Kirtlandia. 30: 1–24.
  2. ^ Lemay, Stephen; Hannibal, Joseph T. (2002). "Trigonocarpus excrescens Janssen, 1940, a supposed seed from the Pennsylvanian of Illinois, is a milliped (Diplopoda: Euphoberiidae)". Kirtlandia. 53: 37–40.


Stub icon

This prehistoric myriapod-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.