Extinct Creature-- Arthropleura (Patreon)

Phew, been a while since I've posted extinct beasts! But I am back at it with a month or two of amazing extinct invertebrates, starting with Arthropleura.

Arthropleura was an almost 8-foot-long millipede that lived in the late Carboniferous, which is the second-to-last period in the Paleozoic Era--
the time before the Mesozoic Era, aka the Dinosaur Times. So Arthropleura lived long before the dinosaurs, though it did share the forests with some large amphibians!

Arthropleura is one of those animals that a lot of media tries to play up as some kind of vicious, deadly animal that rampaged through the underbrush looking for fights, but as is the case with all millipedes, Arthropleura was an herbivore (and was probably pretty cute in the face, to boot.) It also had very few natural predators, so it's safe to assume most of its time was spent browsing the underbrush for tasty leaves rather than doing battle or menacing any small animals.

It was by far the largest arthropod to ever walk the Earth, though it wasn't the largest overall-- we'll discuss what holds that honor next week. In the meantime, gaze upon this beautiful creature, and mourn its passing, as I do.

See y'all next week! Thank you so so much for your continued support and your patience while I work on my various books, you are amazing and important to me.