Emily Chan
“I personally was most surprised and pleased by the fact that the giant millipede Spirostreptus sculptus, not uncommon in Makira Forest, appeared to be another lost species known only from the type specimen described in 1897,” said entomologist Dmitry Telnov.
“The longest specimen of this species we observed in Makira was a really gigantic female measuring [10.8] inches long.”
S. sculptus can live for up to five years and regularly grow over six inches in length. They are also called “olive-striped” millipedes. In addition, the researchers encountered five lost jumping spiders and 17 new spiders.
Although 21 species were rediscovered, there were many that the expedition team couldn’t confirm. For example, the Masoala fork-marked lemur and a large chameleon species evaded the team.
The lemur had not been documented since 2004, and the chameleon has been missing since 2006.
Makira may be the largest forest in Madagascar, but it is still facing agricultural-related threats. The team is concerned that the species in the forest may undergo significant declines in population before they have been fully studied.
