Australian zoologist Paul Marek in an interview with Izvestia spoke about the discovery of a new creature and the calculation of the number of limbs in it. It turned out that the creature has a record number of legs – 1306.
The discovery was made last week, but it was only possible to talk to the scientist on Saturday, December 25.
“Yes, the previous record-breaking species had only 750 legs. Usually centipedes have only 100 to 200 legs, which is not too many, ”the expert shared with Izvestia.
According to him, to accurately determine the number of legs, zoologists counted the segments of this creature.
“This centipede has four legs per segment, while ordinary centipedes have only two. So we just counted all the segments of this centipede. You know, it had 330 segments, which is a lot, ”said Marek.
According to the scientist, he took a photograph of this centipede with a camera at a very high resolution, after which he transferred the picture to his computer, and then painted each segment in a different color as they were counted.
The zoologist expressed confidence that he correctly counted all the legs of the new creature.
According to the scientist, this discovery shows that there are still many undetected species in the natural world. He also noted that through animal research, one can better understand how to preserve the ecosystem of our planet, as well as how best to preserve drinking water.
“And a lot of animals and birds that have not yet been studied by us live in the natural environment. You know, the water we drink is actually filtered through the soil in which the centipedes live, “the specialist shared.
Marek believes that centipedes are an example of beauty that lies in simplicity.
Earlier, on December 22, it became known that paleontologists in Great Britain had found the remains of a giant centipede in sediments of the Carboniferous period in the north of England. It turned out to be the largest invertebrate known to science in the entire history of life on the planet. In length, the centipede reached about 3 m, and in weight exceeded 50 kg. The find was made back in 2018, but only now it was told about it in the scientific journal Journal of the Geological Society.
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Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
