Limb structure, affinity and diet of the Carboniferous ‘centipede’ <i>Arthropleura</i>

Abstract

Synopsis The limb of Arthropleura is shown to be uniramous and not biramous as suggested by Waterlot and accepted by all subsequent authorities except Størmer. The functional significance of some of the limb features is apparent from comparison with living myriapods. The rosette, K- and B-plates are suggested to be sub-coxal sclerites and not limb segments, appendages or organs as previously maintained. New reconstructions of the limb and of the whole animal are presented. Arthropleura is here regarded as a member of a distinct class of Myriapoda, the Arthropleurida, which differs from all other myriapods in the large number of segments in the limb and in the presence of the rosette plate. A juvenile specimen of Arthropleura has lycopod fragments preserved as gut contents, proving that this creature was herbivorous and not carnivorous as suggested by Waterlot. This herbivorous habit is one of several features indicating parallel evolution of the Arthropleurida and the living polydesmid millipedes.