A NEW GENUS OF ARCHIPOLYPODAN MILLIPEDE FROM THE COSELEY LAGERSTÄTTE, UPPER CARBONIFEROUS, UK

Abstract:  A new archipolypodan millipede, Anaxeodesmus diambonotus gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Upper Carboniferous (Westphalian B) Coseley Lagerstätte, West Midlands, UK. This taxon is unique amongst Archipolypoda in having tergites unornamented by spines or tubercles. It appears to have archidesmidan affinities as it shares similarities in sternal morphology with the Early Devonian archipolypodan Palaeodesmus tuberculata (Brade-Birks) from the Midland Valley of Scotland. Anaxeodesmus diambonotus significantly increases the ordinal diversity of Archipolypoda in the Late Carboniferous as all other Archipolypoda from this time period belong to the spiny Euphoberiida.