Researchers found a fossil of "the biggest bug that ever lived": A millipede "AS BIG AS A CAR"
· Dec 26, 2021 · NottheBee.com
Neil Daves

Here is some grade-A nightmare fuel for ya:

The largest-ever fossil of a giant millipede – as big as a car – has been found on a beach in the north of England.

The fossil – the remains of a creature called Arthropleura – dates from the Carboniferous Period, about 326 million years ago, over 100 million years before the Age of Dinosaurs. The fossil reveals that Arthropleura was the largest-known invertebrate animal of all time, larger than the ancient sea scorpions that were the previous record holders.

The specimen, found on a Northumberland beach about 40 miles north of Newcastle, is made up of multiple articulated exoskeleton segments, broadly similar in form to modern millipedes. It is just the third such fossil ever found. It is also the oldest and largest: the segment is about 75 centimetres long, while the original creature is estimated to have measured around 2.7 metres long and weighed around 50 kilograms. The results are reported in the Journal of the Geological Society.

2.7 meters is 9 feet.

50 kilograms is 110 pounds.

We're talking about A MILLIPEDE THAT WAS 9 FEET LONG AND WEIGHED 110 POUNDS.

An invertebrate that weighed over 100 pounds.

Sleep tight.


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