‘Dragon’ creatures — with lots of legs — found in Vietnam mountains. See new species
In the northern mountains of Vietnam, “dragons” don’t appear as giant, fire-breathing reptiles.
Instead, the “dragons” hidden in the rocky outcroppings of the forest are much smaller — and covered in legs.
Researchers with the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology were on an expedition to northern Vietnam when they discovered two new species of dragon millipede, according to a Jan. 9 study published in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys.
Dragon millipedes earn their name from their “spine-like” projections that create an armor on top of their bodies, according to an April 2016 news release from Pensoft Publishers, the publisher of ZooKeys. Some dragon millipedes, including a pink variety, are also capable of producing hydrogen cyanide, which is toxic and keeps predators away.
When the researchers examined the two dragon millipedes found on the limestone rocks of northern Vietnam, they realized the critters were not like anything they had seen, and identified them as new species, according to the study.
Hylomus piccolo, named after the lead character from the Japanese manga “Dragon balls,” includes males that are about half an inch long, with larger females reaching up to 0.6 inches long, researchers said.
Their bodies are “generally darkish-red to darkish-brown” with “whitish-yellow” legs and the edges of their spikes “pinkish,” according to the study.
Each body ring has four legs and two large spines, according to the study, and the large spines are dotted with small, pointed spines, photos show.
Their legs are “extremely long, slender and thin,” researchers said, and their “extremely long” antennae reach all the way back to the seventh ring of their body.
The second new species, Hylomus borealis, is similar.
Borealis is the northern-most province of Vietnam, and also the location where the millipede was found, according to the study.
H. borealis is slightly smaller than the Piccolo dragon millipede, with males reaching 0.4 inches long and females reaching up to half an inch long, researchers said.
Their bodies are “generally dark to castaneous brown,” or the color of a chestnut, according to the study. Their legs are also “whitish-yellow.”
The spines on the Borealis dragon millipede are shorter than those of the Piccolo species, but are still made of two main spine stalks covered with smaller points, photos show.
The new millipedes were found in Phia Oac-Phia Den National Park along the northern border of Vietnam.
The research team includes Anh D. Nguyen, Tam T. T. Vu and Thu-Anh T. Nguyen.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 9:59 AM with the headline "‘Dragon’ creatures — with lots of legs — found in Vietnam mountains. See new species."
