Spirostreptida is an order of long, cylindrical millipedes. There are approximately 1000 described species,[1] making Spirostreptida the third largest order of millipedes after Polydesmida and Chordeumatida.
| Spirostreptida Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Orthoporus sp. (Spirostreptidae) from North America | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Diplopoda |
| Superorder: | Juliformia |
| Order: | Spirostreptida Brandt, 1833 |
| Families | |
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10: see text. | |
Description
editSpirostreptida are generally large, long and cylindrical, with 30 to 90 body rings. Eyes are present in most.[2] This order contains the longest millipedes known: the giant African millipedes of the genus Archispirostreptus that may exceed 30 centimetres (12 in).[2]
Distribution
editSpirostreptida contains mainly tropical species, and occurs in Africa, Southern Asia to Japan, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere from the United States to Argentina.[3]
Evolutionary history
editLike most millipede groups, they have a fragmentary fossil record. The oldest record of the group is the extinct family Electrocambalidae, which is known from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous around 99 million years ago, which belongs to the suborder Cambalidea. The only other fossil records of the group are Protosilvestria from the Oligocene of France, which belongs to either Cambalidae or Cambalopsidae, and an undescribed species of Epinannolene (Pseudonannolenidae) from the Miocene aged Dominican amber.[4]
Classification
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The order comprises two suborders, Cambalidea and Spirostreptidea, the latter further divided into two superfamilies.[1]
Suborder Cambalidea
- Cambalidae
- Cambalopsidae (includes the former Glyphiulidae and Pericambalidae)[1]
- Choctellidae
- Iulomorphidae
- Pseudonannolenidae
- †Electrocambalidae
Suborder Spirostreptidea
- Superfamily Odontopygoidea
- Superfamily Spirostreptoidea
Select species
edit- Phyllogonostreptus nigrolabiatus- a large species from India
- Spinotarsus caboverdus- a species that has become an agricultural pest in Cape Verde
References
edit- ^ a b c Shear, W. (2011). "Class Diplopoda de Blainville in Gervais, 1844. In: Zhang, Z.-Q. (Ed.) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3148: 159–164.
- ^ a b "Diagnostic features of Millipede Orders" (PDF). Milli-PEET Identification Tables. The Field Museum, Chicago. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
- ^ Shelley, Rowland M. (1999). "Centipedes and Millipedes with Emphasis on North American Fauna". The Kansas School Naturalist. 45 (3): 1–16.
- ^ Moritz, Leif; Wesener, Thomas (2021-06-17). "Electrocambalidae fam. nov., a new family of Cambalidea from Cretaceous Burmese amber (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida)". European Journal of Taxonomy. 755: 22–46. doi:10.5852/ejt.2021.755.1397. ISSN 2118-9773.
External links
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Media related to Spirostreptida at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Spirostreptida at Wikispecies- "Spirostreptida" at the Encyclopedia of Life
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