A recent study has named the Illacme plenipes millipede the leggiest critter on Earth, with 750 legs packed onto its tiny 1-inch body.
Thought to be extinct until rediscovered just outside California’s Silicon Valley in 2005, this very rare, very leggy arthropod’s name literally translates to “the pinnacle of plentiful feet.” Millipedes possess the most legs of any animal group, with four legs to each body segment instead of two, enhancing their burrowing skills. The Illacme plenipes also has claws for climbing the requisite sandstone boulders in its native habitat and can spin silk. It has no eyes, relying on a pair of antennae for navigation, and no mouth, instead using a piercing and sucking apparatus to feed on vegetation.
And the female has more appendages than the male, raising the question, where does a stylin’ plenipes find 375 pairs of tiny Jimmy Choos?
