November 21, 2007
Giant Sea Scorpion
The fossilised remains of a giant claw that once belonged to a sea scorpion roughly 2.5 metres long have been found in Germany. Researchers say the monstrous creature is the largest arthropod ever known – over 30 centimetres bigger than the previous largest specimen of the same species. Simon Braddy at the University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues examined the 46-centimetre-long claw, found in a quarry in western Germany, and believe it belonged to a sea scorpion species called Jaekelopterus rhenaniae that roamed the ocean floors some 390 million years ago. Some palaeontologists believe that J. rhenaniae used its claws to reach out and grab passing animals, such as fish, to eat. “They were the top predators at the time,” says Paul Selden at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, US.