Daily Times

A species of millipede ‘new to science’ has been discovered in an old British coal mine.

The species, dubbed the Maerdy Monster, was described as a “hugely significant discovery”.

The brown, 4cm-long arthropod was found underneath a pile of stones by a team of naturalists.

It was found at Maerdy Colliery in the Rhondda Valleys of South Wales.

The millipede has been named in honour of the pit which closed in 1990 – one of the last working pits in the Welsh coalfield.

Scientist Liam Olds said, “It’s not every day that you find a species new to science. It shows you don’t have to go to the Amazon to find new things.”

Olds said he and his team, including millipede expert Christian Owen, were recording different life forms at the former working mine in December when they made their world-first discovery.

Entomologist Olds, who studies insects, said, “Under these stones and sleepers were brown millipedes unlike anything Christian had seen before. He made the assumption these millipedes were merely an alternative colour form of an already existing but rare species known from numerous sites in South Wales. But after putting them under his microscope he recognised they were a completely different species.”

Specimens were then sent to Dr Jörg Spelda at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Germany, who confirmed the millipedes were “new to science”.

Experts are now working to formally describe and name the species, which has been dubbed the ‘Maerdy Monster’ by Olds – after the coal mine it was found at.

Olds, from Llantrisant, South Wales, added, “This discovery highlights the importance of conserving our colliery sites. Over the past several decades, these sites have become increasingly important places for wildlife.”