A group of researchers in the UK have studied the fossil of a giant millipede found after a rock fall on the Northumberland coast in north eastern England. The fossil is a portion of a creature named Arthropleura, and is dated at 326 million years old. There is enough of the creature preserved to enable to researchers of estimate the size of the whole animal. At 2.63m (8.6ft) long, 55cm (21.7in) wide and 50kg (110 pound) in weight, it is claimed to be “The largest arthropod in Earth history”.
There are various theories about how arthropods such as millipedes and insects were so big in the past, when they are so small now. One theory is that there was more oxygen in the atmosphere, and there is evidence for this in the fossil record. The researchers also suggest their giant millipede lived in a warm climate woodland where there was plenty of nutritious food, such as nuts and seeds, amongst the leaf litter on the forest floor, and considering its size, it may have preyed on small vertebrates such as lizards and amphibians.
Sources: SciTech Daily 21 December 2022; Science Alert 22 December 2022; Journal of the Geological Society, 21 December 2021, doi: 10.1144/jgs2021-115
Editorial Comment: This gigantic creepy crawly is the most spectacular of many giant arthropods found in the fossil record. The researchers’ suggestions of gigantism being related to a better atmosphere and nutrition fit with the Biblical history of the world. When the world was first created everything was very good. All physical needs were supplied for all living things, and there was no disease or violence. The fossil record is full of evidence of large creatures inhabiting a world of lush vegetation, yet sadly, this world has gone.
After Noah’s flood the earth became a much harsher place to live, and many giant animals did not survive the changing conditions. Others would have been killed by people and other animals. Giant animals are reminder that the world is not, and never has been, evolving upwards. It is going downhill, and the history of the living world is one of extinction and diminishing size.
Creation Research News 9 February 2022
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