| Illacme plenipes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Diplopoda |
| Order: | Siphonophorida |
| Family: | Siphonophoridae |
| Genus: | Illacme |
| Species: | I. plenipes |
| Binomial name | |
| Illacme plenipes Cook & Loomis, 1928 |
|
Illacme plenipes is a millipede found in the central region of the U.S. state of California. It has 750 legs, more than any other millipede. It was first seen in 1926, but was not rediscovered until 2005.
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Although no known millipede species has one thousand legs, Illacme plenipes comes the closest with one recorded specimen having 750 legs. On average they have over 600 legs, twice the average for millipede species. Despite having more legs than any other creature on Earth, it is actually quite small, even relative to other millipedes. Females grow to just over an inch; males are slightly smaller and have fewer legs.
The species was first discovered in San Benito County, part of the California Floristic Province, in 1926 by a government scientist.[1] However, the species was not seen again until it was rediscovered almost eighty years later, in November 2005, by Paul Marek, a Ph.D. student at East Carolina University, as he was conducting research on millipede systematics and evolution in San Benito County.[2] Marek published his discovery in the journal Nature.[3]