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Date Published: 16/11/2023

7-million-year-old giant cockroach footprints in Jumilla are the only ones of their kind in the world

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No other evidence is known of the species now named Aenigmatipocus jumillensis

7-million-year-old giant cockroach footprints in Jumilla are the only ones of their kind in the world In the fossilized footprints fields of the Sierra de las Cabras in Jumilla, researchers from Murcia, Huelva, Madrid and La Rioja have discovered the Trail of a previously unknown arthropod (that’s a beetle or insect to you and me) which has been named as “Aenigmatipocus jumillensis”, and it has now been confirmed that nowhere else in the world has evidence of this species been found.

The discovery was made public in an article entitled “A new enigmatic lacustrine trackway in the upper Miocene of the Sierra de las Cabras (Jumilla, Murcia, Spain)”, published on August 16 of this year in the Journal of Iberian Geology by Eduardo Mayoral of the University of Huelva, Cayetano Herrero and Emilio Herrero of the museum of Ethnography and Natural Sciences in Jumilla, Javier Martín-Chivelet of the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and Félix Pérez-Lorente, an honorary professor of the University of La Rioja.

7-million-year-old giant cockroach footprints in Jumilla are the only ones of their kind in the world The contribution of Javier Martín Chivelet has been to study the rocks formed from sediment at the site, dating them to approximately 7 million years ago, while Félix Pérez Lorente has been studying the way the animal which formed the footprints would have walked about, reaching the conclusion that it was definitely an arthropod, probably resembling a cockroach.

But this was no ordinary cockroach as we know them today. If the theory is correct it must have been around a metre long and it has even been established that it left the footprints as it was being washed away by a strong current of water into a shallow pool. The animal would have been approximately 30 centimetres wide and the central segment of its body would have had vertical or slightly curved sides.

Of course, the exact nature of the creature which left these prints is unknown, but they are a fascinating addition to the fossilized footprints at the Hoya de la Sima site in the Sierra de Pedrera, which contains the tracks of vertebrates which lived between 5.6 and 7 million years ago and to date is the only site showing Ventian mammals during the Miocene.

Formerly occupied by a lake, the area features prints made by three-toed horses, medium-sized antelopes, sabre-toothed tigers and bears, and these are now protected by a roof: to visit, contact the Ethnographic Museum of Jumilla on 968 780740.

For more local news, events and visiting information go to the home page of Jumilla Today.

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Oficina de Turismo Jumilla

The tourist office in the centre of Jumilla is easily found by driving straight into the centre of the town along the Avenida de Murcia and following the signposts. The tourist office is alongside the Parque de Don Albano Martínez Molina, where there are a number of parking spaces.

Jumilla, in the north of the Region of Murcia, has become internationally famous over recent decades due to the quality of the wines produced in the municipality, and wine tourism has begun to attract visitors from other parts of Spain and the rest of Europe.

The tourist office is happy to provide a range of maps and leaflets showing the different bodegas which can be visited within the municipality. Some of these form part of the Rutas del Vino de Jumilla, the Jumilla wine route, and can either be visited as a guided tour or sell their produce directly to the public.(see feed below for more details)

However, the town and the surrounding countryside have plenty of other attractions for visitors, and the popularity of Jumilla wines is leading more and more people to discover other facets of the tenth largest municipality in Spain.

Jumilla Tourist Office

These include the spectacular countryside and birdlife in the Sierra del Carche, the historic remains which range from cave paintings and a Roman mausoleum to the castle, the Iglesia de Santiago, the Town Hall and the Teatro Vico, and the gastronomy: rich stews are accompanied not only by the wines of the area but also by Jumilla pears, which also enjoy Denomination of Origin status.

Tourism in Jumilla is not as seasonal as it is in the coastal areas of the Region of Murcia, but the town is at its liveliest during the fiestas in Holy Week and the August Fair, which incorporates the grape harvest celebrations and the Moors and Christians parades.

The Altiplano of the Region of Murcia, which consists of the municipalities of Jumilla and Yecla, is only just over an hour by car from the Mar Menor, Cartagena, Mazarrón, Torrevieja and Alicante, and anyone wishing to visit real inland Spain and world-class wineries is advised to include Jumilla in their schedule.