A new creepy crawly critter has been found in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. FM89’s Ezra David Romero reports.
The long white millipedehas 414 legs, 200 poison glands and four penises. The Illacmetobini (ill-ack-me toe-bin-i) millipede is named after National Park Service Biologist Ben Tobin. It was found in a cave near Sequoia and King Canyon’s only public cave called Crystal Cave.
“Once we know that these species live in these unique environments maybe those will be the species that will tell us when the environment is changing," says Annie Esperanza, the parks branch chief for physical sciences. "It's a possibility as we learn and discover new species."
The millipede was found in the 2000’s during a biological survey and was sent off to a lab. It took a long time to decide whether it was a new species or just an adaptation, but later was determined to be a brand new species. It’s closest relative has 750 legs and was found in San Benito County over 150 miles away from where the new species was stumbled upon.
