Myriapoda

Myriapoda is an arthropod subphylum comprising centipedes, millipedes, pauropods, and symphylans. Its members have elongated bodies divided into many segments, with most trunk segments bearing legs.

Arthropod: An invertebrate animal with a segmented body, jointed appendages, and a chitinous exoskeleton. Myriapoda is one major lineage within this broader animal group.
Diplopody: A body organization in which paired trunk segments are fused into diplosegments bearing two pairs of legs. This distinctive arrangement gives most millipedes their characteristic leg pattern.
Chilopoda: The myriapod class containing centipedes, generally predatory animals with one leg pair per trunk segment. Its species span familiar soil hunters and unusually large tropical predators.
Arthropleura: An extinct, giant, millipede-like arthropod that lived during the Carboniferous and early Permian periods. Its fossils document the extraordinary size attained by some extinct myriapod relatives.
Detritivore: An organism that obtains nutrients by consuming dead organic material and its associated microbes. Many millipedes accelerate the breakdown of leaf litter and other detritus.
Tagmosis: The organization of an arthropod body into functional regions made from groups of segments. Myriapod bodies show relatively little regional specialization compared with many arthropods.
Forcipule: A venom-delivering appendage formed from the first pair of legs in centipedes. Centipedes convert a front leg pair into a specialized prey-capturing weapon.
Diplopoda: The myriapod class containing millipedes, mostly detritivores with two leg pairs on most trunk segments. Its members demonstrate the subphylum's greatest diversity of segment and defense patterns.
Pneumodesmus newmani: An extinct millipede-like animal from the Silurian, known from fossils associated with early terrestrial life. It is among the earliest known candidates for a land-dwelling arthropod.
Soil fauna: Animals that live in soil and contribute to its food webs and physical processes. Myriapods are common members of soil communities and leaf litter.

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