Scolopendra cataracta | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
Class: | Chilopoda |
Order: | Scolopendromorpha |
Family: | Scolopendridae |
Genus: | Scolopendra |
Species: | S. cataracta
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Binomial name | |
Scolopendra cataracta Siriwut,
Edgecombe & Panha, 2016
|
Scolopendra cataracta is a species of centipede in the family Scolopendridae. [1] [2] It is the first known amphibious centipede, growing to up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. [2] [3]
Scolopendra cataracta is a giant centipede, growing to around 200 mm (7.9 in) in length; it has long legs and a greenish-black colour. [3] When exposed, it escapes into water. It both runs along stream beds and swims with eel-like horizontal undulations of its body. Out of water, water rolls off the centipede's body leaving it dry as the surface is hydrophobic. [2] The species was discovered, and the first specimen collected, in 2000 near Thailand's Khao Sok National Park. [4] [5] Two more specimens were collected near waterfalls in Laos. DNA analysis confirmed they belonged to S. cataracta; the new species was named for the Latin for waterfall. [2] A further specimen was found in the Natural History Museum's collection, in the shape of a misidentified 1928 centipede from Vietnam. [2] The ecological niche is conjectured to be based on going "into the water at night to hunt aquatic or amphibious invertebrates." [3] The species description was published in ZooKeys in 2016. [6]
The species is apparently endemic to Southeast Asia, with specimens from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. [2]
Scolopendra cataracta | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
Class: | Chilopoda |
Order: | Scolopendromorpha |
Family: | Scolopendridae |
Genus: | Scolopendra |
Species: | S. cataracta
|
Binomial name | |
Scolopendra cataracta Siriwut,
Edgecombe & Panha, 2016
|
Scolopendra cataracta is a species of centipede in the family Scolopendridae. [1] [2] It is the first known amphibious centipede, growing to up to 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. [2] [3]
Scolopendra cataracta is a giant centipede, growing to around 200 mm (7.9 in) in length; it has long legs and a greenish-black colour. [3] When exposed, it escapes into water. It both runs along stream beds and swims with eel-like horizontal undulations of its body. Out of water, water rolls off the centipede's body leaving it dry as the surface is hydrophobic. [2] The species was discovered, and the first specimen collected, in 2000 near Thailand's Khao Sok National Park. [4] [5] Two more specimens were collected near waterfalls in Laos. DNA analysis confirmed they belonged to S. cataracta; the new species was named for the Latin for waterfall. [2] A further specimen was found in the Natural History Museum's collection, in the shape of a misidentified 1928 centipede from Vietnam. [2] The ecological niche is conjectured to be based on going "into the water at night to hunt aquatic or amphibious invertebrates." [3] The species description was published in ZooKeys in 2016. [6]
The species is apparently endemic to Southeast Asia, with specimens from Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. [2]