Cave-dwelling millipede has 414 legs and an unusual number of other appendages, too

Millipedes, the little blunt-headed invertebrates with a habit of coiling up like baby ferns, rarely live up their name. In Latin, millipede means “thousand feet,” though the majority of the arthropods do not surpass the hundred-leg mark.

That is not to say these critters want for feet. They have plenty. And a newly described species, which was found living alone in a small California cave, almost does the millipede name justice. Sporting 414 tiny walking appendages, the creature — a single male specimen — boasted the second-highest number of legs of any animal species on the planet.