Arthropleura
Arthropleura armata
Arthropleura was one of the largest known land-dwelling arthropods in Earth's history.
Image: Mickaël Lhéritier, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Russell J. Garwood, Adrien Buisson, Alexis Gerbe, Nicolás Mongiardino Koch, … · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Arthropleura armata
- Period
- Late Carboniferous
- Lived
- 323–299 Ma (323 million years ago)
- Diet
- Detritivore
- Habitat
- Swamp, Forest
- Length (estimate)
- 2 m
Description
Arthropleura was an arthropod with a long body made up of many broad, overlapping segments and numerous legs. Trackways indicate individuals possibly over two metres long, although exact dimensions rarely come from complete fossils. It lived on the forest floor and probably ate plant matter and other organic material rather than actively hunting. Low oxygen and food availability in Carboniferous swamps remain among the proposed explanations for its size.
Habitat
Humid Carboniferous forests and swamp margins.
Fossil sites
Joggins, Nova Scotia
Joggins Formation
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Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Arthropleura