Arthropleura armata

Also known as Giant Millipede

Crawling across the equatorial floodplains and open swamp margins of the Carboniferous, this armored giant was the largest terrestrial arthropod ever discovered. Over thirty tough tergite plates shielded its broad body as dozens of paired legs propelled it steadily over damp sediment, creating distinctive ribbon-like trackways up to half a meter wide. Sustained by high atmospheric oxygen and rich vegetation like club mosses and ferns, it dominated late Paleozoic ground ecosystems until shifting climates dried out its wetland strongholds.