Scientists also found other lost species there
It would seem difficult to lose something as large and many-legged as a giant centipede, but scientists have managed to do it. One species of centipede was lost for more than 126 years. Luckily, it was rediscovered in Madagascar's Makira Forest, where it was joined by 20 other extinct species, ranging from ant-like flower beetles to rainbow fish and even jumping spiders.
The giant centipede in question, the long, dark brown Spirostreptus sculptus, was first described by entomologist Henri de Saussure and naturalist Leo Zentner in 1897, when it was discovered in Madagascar. However, since then, meetings with the insect have never been recorded by scientists.
The Re:wild project, which involves team members from many different organizations, aims to find animals that were lost to science more than a decade ago but are not considered extinct — their number is thought to number at least 4,300.
In 2023, as part of this search, volunteers spent several weeks combing the Makira forest, one of Madagascar's largest protected areas.
“Madagascar is a center for biodiversity conservation, and Makira is an underexplored area in the country, so we decided to try out a new model there for searching for extinct species,” explained Re:wild employee Christina Biggs.
After compiling a list of 30 extinct species, the search was successful, and one of the most unexpected finds was a giant centipede, although there is a suspicion that it was not lost to local communities at all.
“Personally, I was most surprised and pleased by the fact that the giant centipede Spirostreptus sculptus, common in the Makira forest, turned out to be another extinct species, known only from the type specimen described in 1897,” said entymologist Dmitry Telnov.
The expedition member also noted: “The longest representative of this species that we observed in Makira was a truly gigantic female, 27.5 centimeters long.”
Although the team was unable to find a number of species on the list of extinct, there were many they rediscovered, including two species of ant-like flower beetles that had not been recorded since 1958, and the jumping spider Tomocyrba decollate, which had been lost since its first discovery in 1900.
On top of that, the expedition discovered a previously unknown species of zebra spider — quite a find, considering that they were not thought to live in the rainforests of Madagascar. After finding several adults guarding egg sacs in the cave, Brogan Pett, director of the SpiDiverse working group at BINCO, commented: “These were quite large spiders and it was surprising that they took so long to be recognized.”
The team will be able to return to Makira to make a second attempt to find the species they were unable to find this time.
“It is important to continue studying the biodiversity of Makira because although it is one of the largest rainforests in the country, we there is still relatively little understanding of what species are found, and there are probably many completely undescribed species as well. A better understanding of Makira's biological wealth will allow us to better target our conservation efforts,” concludes Julie Lynchant of the Madagascar Wildlife Conservation Society.
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