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Health & Science5h 17m ago
An international team led by Virginia Tech researchers has completed the evolutionary family tree of millipedes, tracing their origins back nearly 460 million years.
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Los Tuxtlas in Mexico, Canary Islands of Spain
Who
Paul Marek, Luisa "Fernanda" Vasquez-Valverde M.S. '21, Ph.D. '24, Virginia Tech researchers
What
An international team led by Virginia Tech researchers has completed the evolutionary family tree of millipedes, tracing their origins back nearly 460 million years.
When
Sun, 14 Jun 2026 07:35:08 GMT · 5h 17m ago
Where
Los Tuxtlas in Mexico, Canary Islands of Spain ·
Why
Researchers aimed to fill in one of the final gaps in the millipede family tree and understand their evolutionary history, including the placement of two rare millipede groups.
The Frontline Impact
How this affects you
This research reveals that millipedes were among Earth's earliest terrestrial pioneers, developing chemical defenses and playing a crucial role in preparing the planet for life on land by recycling nutrients from decaying organic material.
Story chain
3 events in this thread- Health & Science5h 17m agoAn international team led by Virginia Tech researchers has completed the evolutionary family tree of millipedes, revealing they may have been crawling across Earth's landscapes nearly 460 million years ago.Open article
- Health & Science5h 17m agoAn international team led by Virginia Tech researchers has completed the evolutionary family tree of millipedes, revealing they may have been crawling across Earth's landscapes nearly 460 million years ago, long before vertebrates ventured onto land.Open article
- Currently Reading5h 17m agoAn international team led by Virginia Tech researchers has completed the evolutionary family tree of millipedes, tracing their origins back nearly 460 million years.