Millipedes beat vertebrates onto land by 80 million years, and a new family tree shows these tiny decomposers shaped Earth’s first ecosystems

Groundbreaking research reveals millipedes, not vertebrates, were Earth’s first land colonisers, arriving 80 million years earlier. These tiny decomposers, active 460 million years ago, began breaking down organic matter and enriching soils on a barren planet. Their evolution of chemical defences also ensured survival, fundamentally shaping our terrestrial ecosystems long before larger creatures emerged.