Description
Myriapods (from Ancient Greek __ μυρίος ( _muríos ) 'ten thousand', and __ πούς ( poús )_ 'foot') are the members of subphylum Myriapoda , containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.
The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian, although molecular evidence suggests a diversification in the Cambrian Period, and Cambrian fossils exist which resemble myriapods. The oldest unequivocal myriapod fossils are of the millipedes Kampecaris obanensis and Archidesmus sp. from the late Silurian (425 million years ago). Another early millipede, Pneumodesmus newmani from the early Devonian (414 million years ago) is important as the earliest known evidence of an air-breathing animal. The phylogenetic classification of myriapods is still debated.
The scientific study of myriapods is myriapodology, and those who study myriapods are myriapodologists.
