Stone Centipedes - Living Fossils
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© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
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Classification
- Family
- Lithobiidae
- Order
- Lithobiomophora
- Subclass
- Pleurostigmophora
- Class
- Chilopoda
- Subphylum
- Myriapoda
- Phylum
- Arthopoda
- Kingdom
- Animalia
-
- Number of Species
- 20 described in Australia
-
- Size Range
- 4-40mm
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View Fossil Record
- Fossil Record
- Jurassic Period
(205 million years ago - 141 million years ago)
Introduction
The little yellow or red-brown creatures known to science as Lithobiomorpha may not look like much, but they are living records of Australia's ancient natural history.
The common name for Lithobiomorpha is 'stone centipede', and almost every species found on the continents of the Southern Hemisphere belong to one prehistoric family, the Henicopidae.
The continents of the Southern Hemisphere were once pieces of one great land, the supercontinent known as 'Gondwana', which began splitting apart in the Jurassic Period, some 160 million years ago. The divided pieces of Gondwana became separated by vast oceans, and their biota (plant and animal life) evolved in isolation.
Researchers at the Australian Museum use genetics and anatomy to explore the evolution of stone centipedes in Australia and their links with those that live on the other continents that were once part of Gondwana. Australian stone centipedes are remarkably similar to closely related species of Henicopidae found in New Zealand, Argentina and Chile.
Despite the long period since Gondwana separated and the great oceans isolated them, the stone centipedes of the southern continents still bear a strong family resemblance. Australia's stone centipedes are 'living fossils' - links to the past which reveal just how ancient our forest biota really is.
Identification
- The head is 'heart-shaped' with a distinctive ridge along each side.
- Body red-brown or purplish with 15 segments, each with one pair of legs. Up to 2 cm long.
- The front pairs of legs are short and they increase in length towards the back. The final two pairs are longest and are used in mating and capture of prey.
Distribution
South-western and eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania.
Habitat
Damp habitats, such as under rocks and logs or in garden compost.
Feeding and diet
Omnivore- These centipedes feed on the soft parts of small insects, slaters and spiders, and occasionally on fungal spores and decaying plants.
Number of species
20 described in Australia
Similar species
Henicopidae, found in New Zealand, Argentina and Chile
