Pauropoda

Pauropoda
Temporal range: Eocene to Present
A eurypauropod from New Zealand
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Pauropoda
Orders
Synonyms
  • Heterognathes de Saussure & Humbert, 1872
  • Heterognatha Tömösváry, 1883
  • Monopoda Bollman, 1893

Pauropoda is a class of small, pale, millipede-like arthropods in the subphylum Myriapoda. More than 900 species in twelve families are found worldwide, living in soil and leaf mold. Pauropods look like centipedes or millipedes and may be a sister group of the latter, but a close relationship with Symphyla has also been posited. The name Pauropoda derives from the Greek pauros (meaning "small" or "few") and pous, genitive podos (meaning "foot"), because most species in this class have only nine pairs of legs as adults, a smaller number than those found among adults in any other class of myriapods.