Dar es Salaam. Scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, collaborating with Tanzania’s institutions and other international partners, have discovered a new genus and five new species of millipedes in the forests of the Udzungwa Mountains in Morogoro.
The discovered millipedes are described as creepy, alien-like creatures with heads resembling Star Wars characters, each possessing multiple legs and measuring several centimetres in length.
Prof Andy Marshall of the University of the Sunshine Coast, an exploration team member, explained that the newly discovered millipedes are a few centimetres long. The largest African millipedes can grow up to 35 centimetres, or nearly 14 inches long.
“We record millipedes of all sizes during our fieldwork to measure forest recovery because they are great indicators of forest health. However, we didn’t realise the significance of these species until the myriapodologists had assessed our specimens,” Prof Marshall has been quoted as saying.
These findings are part of the research project, the Forest Restoration and Climate Experiment (FoRCE), conducted in the Udzungwa Mountains— known as a globally significant region for biodiversity and species endemism.
The research aimed to understand global forest recovery from heavy disturbance, utilising several indicators of forest recovery and function. Millipedes and other detritivores were used to indicate their role in litter decomposition and nutrient and carbon recycling.
The European Journal of Taxonomy has named the new millipede genus “Udzungwastreptus,” and the five new species are named Lophostreptus magombera, Attemsostreptus cataractae, Attemsostreptus leptoptilos, Attemsostreptus julostriatus, and Udzungwastreptus marianae.
All millipede specimens are housed in the zoological collections of the Natural History Museum at the University of Copenhagen (NHMD, formerly ZMUC) in Denmark.
According to the scientists, the new genus and species of millipedes demonstrate the vast amount left to discover in tropical forests.
