Tag Archive for 'Eurypterid'

Reconstruction of Pentecopterus (170 cm long), the earliest sea scorpion (eurypterid) from the Ordovician period (467 Ma) of Iowa, USA. Image credit: John Alexander.

Giant 400-Million-Year-Old Scorpion May Be a Crustacean

Jul 29, 2024 by Simon Braddy

Sea scorpions (eurypterids), extinct giant aquatic arthropods, were apex predators. New research suggests that early species of the scorpion-like carcinosomatoid...

This is an artist’s rendering of Pentecopterus decorahensis. Image credit: Patrick Lynch / Yale University.

Biggest Bugs Were Giant Sea Scorpions and Were All Predatory

Dec 28, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Pterygotid eurypterids (sea scorpions), giant aquatic arthropods with big claws, were all regarded as apex predators but some scientists then suggested...

Life reconstruction of the eurypterid Archopterus anjiensis. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Earliest Sea Scorpion from China

May 15, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Archopterus anjiensis, a new 445-million-year-old fossil sea scorpion, from the Chinese Zhejiang Province, is the oldest sea scorpion known from China. Life...

Life reconstruction of the eurypterid Brachyopterus. Image credit: Nix Illustration / CC BY 4.0.

Earliest Sea Scorpion Tracks on Land

Feb 16, 2023 by Simon Braddy

Palmichnium gallowayi, a 460-million-year-old fossil trackway of a sea scorpion, from upstate New York, is one of the earliest signs of animal life on...

Life reconstruction of Terropterus xiushanensis. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Fossils of Giant Sea Scorpion Found in China

Oct 11, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of mixopterid eurypterid (sea scorpion) has been identified from several fossil specimens found in the Xiushan Formation, China. Life...

Lamsdell et al present details of the respiratory organs of Adelophthalmus pyrrhae from the Carboniferous of Montagne Noire, France, revealed through micro computed tomography (μ-CT) imaging. Image credit: Lamsdell et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.034.

Carboniferous-Period Sea Scorpion Was Capable of Breathing Air

Sep 11, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have examined the fossilized remains of a previously unknown species of eurypterid (sea scorpion) and found direct evidence that these...

This illustration shows a sea scorpion attacking an early vertebrate. Image credit: Nathan Rogers.

Sea Scorpions Used Striking ‘Weapon’ to Dispatch Prey, Paleontologists Say

Apr 20, 2017 by News Staff

Eurypterids, better known as sea scorpions, used their serrated-spine-tipped tails to dispatch their prey, according to new research by University of Alberta...