Six-foot-long millipedes are said to have once inhabited the seas

An international team of scientists led by researchers from the University of Lausanne (Unil) has made a groundbreaking discovery at a new fossil site in Morocco: Relatives of centipedes, up to two meters long, would have lived in the seas 470 million years ago .

The excavations were carried out in Taichoute, Morocco, the Unil wrote in a statement on Tuesday. The research results have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

During the excavations, numerous fossils of giant arthropods – relatives of modern animals such as centipedes, insects and spiders – were found. According to the researchers, the arthropods found made up nearly 50 percent of the species in Taichout during their lifetimes. They were characterized by being “active swimmers” and could grow up to two meters in length.

The arthropods found have not yet been fully identified. Some may be known species, others are absolutely unknown. Their large size and ability to swim suggest they played a unique role in these ecosystems, the statement said.

Arthropod fossils had previously been discovered at a nearby site. However, these accounted for only one to two percent of the biodiversity and they lived in a shallow sea. In Taichout, the fossils were found in sediments millions of years younger, which had been transported by underwater avalanches to a relatively deep marine environment. (saw/sda)