Kentucky Used to Have Seven Foot Long Giant Millipedes

When it comes to creepy crawly things, the smaller the better. Even though the smaller ones give me the willy's too, it's hard to see them. So, out of sight, out of mind, right?

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So, the bigger the better? No, in this case, there is such a thing as too big.

What if the creepy things with lots of legs that move very fast, big teeth, long antennas, and sharp pinchers were seven feet long? No!

But, that is exactly what used to live in some parts of the world and probably all over. The fossils just haven't been found yet.

Meet the stuff of nightmares, the giant millipede.

The prehistoric giant Arthropleura millipede

Having lived during the Carboniferous Period, from 359.2 to 299 million years ago, these giant millipedes dominated swampy forests long before the dinosaurs.

During this period, their role in the forest would have been that of a predator, with, according to Ranker, no known predators of its own. That would mean that this giant millipede was the king of the forest.

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Could humans live during the Carboniferous Period?

The answer we could have, but we didn't. World Building says that humans could have lived during this land-based prehistoric period.

The earliest period in which humans could live as a land-based rather than a coastal species would be the Devonian (419-358 MYA) or the Carboniferous (358-298 MYA) eras, during which land-based life spread out and became established.

But, humans didn't appear until much, much later; between five million and seven million years ago.

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Did giant millipedes roam prehistoric Kentucky?

Yes. Fossil evidence has been found in both Kentucky and New Mexico. According to Ranker,

About 300 million years ago, many called the current United States home. That's the story scientists uncovered in fossil records. Fossilized remains have been found in Kentucky and New Mexico. One researcher described the New Mexico tracks left by the massive millipede as similar to tire tracks from a vehicle.

Since a complete fossil has yet to be found in Kentucky, only fragments, the giant millipedes could have measured over nine feet in length.

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There have been larger fragments of fossils uncovered in Europe that suggest a millipede of that size. In an article from Nerdist, it states,

...the fossil, which took 4 people to carry up the cliff during the May 2018 extraction, was a little under two-and-a-half feet (75 centimeters), the scientists estimate the creature itself was just under nine feet tall—more formally 8.85 feet and 2.7 meters.

See a photo of the amazing fossil, HERE.

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