Чийглэг орчинд амьдардаг гэгддэг мянган хөлтний бүлэгт хамаарах уг зүйл нь хуурай бүс нутгаас олдсон нь эрдэмтдийн анхаарлыг татаж байна.
Өмнөд Австралийн Йоркийн хойгоос 1936 онд цуглуулсан мянган хөлтний сорьц олон арван жилийн турш Өмнөд Австралийн музейд (SAMA) ангилагдаагүй хадгалагдаж байв. 2015 онд Германы судлаач Петер Декер докторын судалгааныхаа хүрээнд тус музейн цуглуулгыг судлах явцдаа энэхүү сорьцыг Dalodesmidae овогт хамаарахыг тогтоожээ. Уг зүйлийг микроскоп шинжилгээгээр баталгаажуулж, Colobothrix deckeri хэмээн нэрлэсэн бөгөөд “Colobothrix” нь уг амьтны хөл дээрх “хөгжөөгүй үс” буюу sphaerotrichome хэмээх богино, мохоо бүтэцтэй холбоотой юм.
Энэхүү олдвор нь ихэвчлэн чийглэг орчинд амьдардаг мянган хөлтний бүлэг хуурай уур амьсгалтай бүс нутагт хэрхэн тэсвэрлэж байгааг судлах шинэ асуултыг хөндөж байна. 2010 онд Кангару арал дээр аалзны судалгаа хийх үед олдсон сорьцууд нь хожим 2026 оны эхээр ижил зүйл болохыг тогтоосон байна. Тус зүйл нь 1936 оны олдсон газраас хойш дахин олдоогүй бөгөөд судлаач Роберт Мезибовын таамаглаж буйгаар тухайн бүс нутгийн шохойн чулуун давхаргын завсар дахь бичил хөндийнүүдэд эртний чийглэг үеийн үлдэгдэл болон амьд үлдсэн байж болзошгүй гэж үзэж байна.
ZooKeys сэтгүүлд хэвлэгдсэн энэхүү судалгааны үр дүн нь амьтны аймаг дахь үл мэдэгдэх зүйлийн ангиллыг тогтооход музейн цуглуулга болон салбар дундын судалгааны хамтын ажиллагаа чухал болохыг харууллаа. Одоогоор тус зүйл анх олдсон хуурай бүс нутагт одоо ч оршин тогтнож байгаа эсэх нь тодорхойгүй байгаа бөгөөд энэ чиглэлээрх судалгаа үргэлжилж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A millipede first collected in South Australia in 1936 has finally been identified as a new species, named Colobothrix deckeri. It belongs to a family that usually lives in damp places, yet its original collection site is surprisingly dry.
The animal sat unidentified in a museum collection for decades. Its identification eventually brought together researchers working on unrelated projects, along with specimens gathered in surveys that had nothing to do with millipedes.
The finding challenges assumptions about where this moisture-loving family can survive. The description was published in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal ZooKeys, and some questions remain open.
A Specimen Waiting in the Museum
The story starts with a specimen collected in 1936 on South Australia’s lower Yorke Peninsula. It remained unidentified in the South Australian Museum (SAMA) until 2015, when German researcher Peter Decker came across it. He was examining borrowed museum specimens for his doctoral research on a different millipede family, Paradoxosomatidae.
Decker recognized that the animal belonged to Dalodesmidae and sent photographs of its microscopic features to Robert Mesibov, a specialist in Australian millipedes. The original collection site receives just 400 to 500 millimeters (15.7 to 19.7 inches) of annual rainfall, which makes this the first member of the family recorded from such a dry region of Australia.
The specimen provided the first evidence that the family occurs in dry South Australia. Mesibov searched the original collection area in 2016 and 2017, but neither expedition located another specimen. He later named the species in Decker’s honor.
A Tiny Feature Behind the Name
The species also has an unusual microscopic trait. Mature males in Dalodesmidae and certain other millipede families have tiny, ball-shaped structures on their legs called sphaerotrichomes. These are normally topped by a long, pointed bristle known as a seta. In this species, the bristle is reduced to a short, blunt rod.
That distinctive anatomy inspired the genus name Colobothrix, meaning “stunted hair.” The species name, deckeri, honors Peter Decker, the German researcher who came across the specimen in the South Australian Museum in 2015 and recognized it as a member of Dalodesmidae.
As explained by the paper, the structures of the C. deckeri can be seen in a scanning electron micrograph taken by Mesibov, which shows a cluster of sphaerotrichomes on a leg of the animal.
What Scientists Found on Kangaroo Island?
Unknown to the researchers at the time, additional specimens had already been collected about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the original location. In 2010, arachnologists Michael Rix and Danilo Harms were surveying spiders and leaf-litter invertebrates on Kangaroo Island, where they found a remarkable new assassin spider species. Their collections also included several unidentified millipedes, which went to the Western Australian Museum (WAM).
The 2020 bushfires later destroyed the original collection site, raising fears for the rare spider. In a 2021 follow-up survey, arachnologist Jessica Marsh found it at additional locations several kilometers away, and her collections also contained specimens of the unidentified millipede.
In early 2026, Mesibov discovered the WAM’s millipede record online and contacted curator Mark Harvey. Close-up photographs from Harvey confirmed that the Kangaroo Island specimens belonged to the same species collected in 1936. He then visited the island and located living specimens at relatively wet sites near the earlier localities. The specimens from 1936, 2021, and 2026 are now housed at the South Australian Museum.
Researchers still do not know whether the species survives at its original Yorke Peninsula location, which receives considerably less rainfall. According to Mesibov, the 1936 locality is underlain by limestone, and the rock is broken where it is exposed at the surface. He says:
“I wonder if the species survives in small voids in this bedrock, as a relict from wetter periods in South Australia’s past. That might explain why I couldn’t find it in 2016 and 2017, and how it could persist in such a dry climate.”
“I wonder if the species survives in small voids in this bedrock,” as a relict from wetter periods in South Australia’s past. That, he suggests that: “might explain why I couldn’t find it in 2016 and 2017, and how it could persist in such a dry climate.”
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