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Man-sized sea scorpion claw found
by BBC
Thanks to Markus Nivala for the link.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7104421.stm
The immense fossilised claw of a 2.5m-long (8ft) sea scorpion has been described by European researchers.
The 390-million-year-old specimen was found in a German quarry, the journal Biology Letters reports.
The creature, which has been named Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, would have paddled in a river or swamp.
The size of the beast suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought, the team says.
The claw itself measures 46cm - indicating its owner would have been longer even than the average-sized human.
Overall, the estimated size of the animal exceeds the record for any other sea scorpion (eurypterid) find by nearly 50cm.
The eurypterids are believed to be the extinct aquatic ancestors of modern land scorpions and possibly all arachnids (the class of animals that also includes spiders).
"The biggest scorpion today is nearly 30cm so that shows you how big this creature was," said Dr Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK.
It was one of Dr Braddy's co-authors, Markus Poschmann, who made the discovery in the quarry near Prum in western Germany.
"I was loosening pieces of rock with a hammer and chisel when I suddenly realised there was a dark patch of organic matter on a freshly removed slab," he recalled.
"After some cleaning I could identify this as a small part of a large claw. Although I did not know if it was more complete or not, I decided to try and get it out.
"The pieces had to be cleaned separately, dried, and then glued back together. It was then put into a white plaster jacket to stabilise it."
Super-sized meals
The species existed during a period in Earth history when oxygen levels in the atmosphere were much higher than today.
And it was those elevated levels, some palaeo-scientists believe, that may have helped drive the super-sized bodies of many of the invertebrates that existed at that time - monster millipedes, huge cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies.
But Dr Braddy thinks the large scales may have had a lot to do with the absence early on of vertebrate predators. As they came on the scene, these animals would have eaten all the biggest prey specimens.
"The fact that you are big means you are more likely to be seen and to be taken for a tastier morsel," he told BBC News. "Evolution will not select for large size; you want to be small so you can hide away."
The scorpions are thought to have made their first scuttles on to land about 450 million years ago.
While some would have taken up a fully terrestrial existence, others like Jaekelopterus rhenaniae would have maintained an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.
Reposted from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7104421.stm
The immense fossilised claw of a 2.5m-long (8ft) sea scorpion has been described by European researchers.The 390-million-year-old specimen was found in a German quarry, the journal Biology Letters reports.
The creature, which has been named Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, would have paddled in a river or swamp.
The size of the beast suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought, the team says.
The claw itself measures 46cm - indicating its owner would have been longer even than the average-sized human.
Overall, the estimated size of the animal exceeds the record for any other sea scorpion (eurypterid) find by nearly 50cm.
The eurypterids are believed to be the extinct aquatic ancestors of modern land scorpions and possibly all arachnids (the class of animals that also includes spiders).
"The biggest scorpion today is nearly 30cm so that shows you how big this creature was," said Dr Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK.
It was one of Dr Braddy's co-authors, Markus Poschmann, who made the discovery in the quarry near Prum in western Germany.
"I was loosening pieces of rock with a hammer and chisel when I suddenly realised there was a dark patch of organic matter on a freshly removed slab," he recalled.
"After some cleaning I could identify this as a small part of a large claw. Although I did not know if it was more complete or not, I decided to try and get it out.
"The pieces had to be cleaned separately, dried, and then glued back together. It was then put into a white plaster jacket to stabilise it."
Super-sized meals
The species existed during a period in Earth history when oxygen levels in the atmosphere were much higher than today.
And it was those elevated levels, some palaeo-scientists believe, that may have helped drive the super-sized bodies of many of the invertebrates that existed at that time - monster millipedes, huge cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies.But Dr Braddy thinks the large scales may have had a lot to do with the absence early on of vertebrate predators. As they came on the scene, these animals would have eaten all the biggest prey specimens.
"The fact that you are big means you are more likely to be seen and to be taken for a tastier morsel," he told BBC News. "Evolution will not select for large size; you want to be small so you can hide away."
The scorpions are thought to have made their first scuttles on to land about 450 million years ago.
While some would have taken up a fully terrestrial existence, others like Jaekelopterus rhenaniae would have maintained an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.
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Posted: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 | PermalinkComments 1 - 37 of 37 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #89653 by annabanana on November 21, 2007 at 11:38 am
I think that I may be glad that evolution directed these enormous creatures to extinction...I think it would be rather disconcerting to have giant scorpions walking about. Although, I'm sure that had they been here all along, humans would have been accustomed to them and not disconcerted by them. Other Comments by annabanana
3. Comment #89656 by steveroot on November 21, 2007 at 11:41 am
2. Comment #89653 by annabanana on November 21, 2007 at 11:38 am
Although, I'm sure that had they been here all along, humans would have been accustomed to them and not disconcerted by them.
Hell, we'd have dominion over them, as we are commanded!
Steve
Other Comments by steveroot
4. Comment #89657 by annabanana on November 21, 2007 at 11:43 am
Oh yes Steve, I forgot about that, haha. :-) Other Comments by annabanana
5. Comment #89659 by ChrisMcL on November 21, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Giant freakin' scorpions?!? Now how am I supposed to sleep tonight! Other Comments by ChrisMcL
6. Comment #89663 by wednesdayguevara on November 21, 2007 at 12:29 pm
This is going to be the best rubber monster movie ever!Other Comments by wednesdayguevara
7. Comment #89664 by arogop on November 21, 2007 at 12:30 pm
5. Comment #89659 by ChrisMcL You may get comfort for this by talking to your imaginary friend.
What I don't get is with the age of the planet of 10,000 how did it get imbeded in a rock? ;)
Other Comments by arogop
8. Comment #89672 by Greybishop on November 21, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I have only two thoughts about this, although one is subdivided.1. Has Spielberg been contacted yet?
2. No WAY am I time travelling backwards 400 million years.
2a. If it should happen by accident, I am NOT packing a bathing suit.
Other Comments by Greybishop
9. Comment #89678 by 82abhilash on November 21, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Now imagine a man sized mosquito, that can suck up all your blood during one meal and leave a shriveled and dry carcass.Or a man sized spider that spins its web on high ways intersections to make a meal out of un-suspecting travelers.
What other possibilities can change in size can bring?
Other Comments by 82abhilash
10. Comment #89686 by Funny Grievous on November 21, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Methinks it looks more like a lobster/shrimp mix.Either way, I wouldn't want to run(swim) across it! :P
Other Comments by Funny Grievous
11. Comment #89695 by BAEOZ on November 21, 2007 at 2:17 pm
"Evolution will not select for large size; you want to be small so you can hide away."
Someone forgot to tell Blue whales this. No wonder they need to swim in the ocean! Away from prying eyes.
What a strange comment. Evolution isn't a purpose driven process. Animals evolve to fill niches, not to be small and hidden.
Other Comments by BAEOZ
12. Comment #89696 by Null-T on November 21, 2007 at 2:21 pm
A giant arachnid - if only Robert Heinlein was alive today to see this.I wonder how fast this thing was. I doubt it was fast enough to pose much of a threat to any modern animals or am I wrong?
Other Comments by Null-T
13. Comment #89702 by JSW on November 21, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Or a man sized spider that spins its web on high ways intersections to make a meal out of un-suspecting travelers.On the plus side, if this Spider-the-size-of-a-Man could, in fact, spin a web to any given size, it would also be able to catch thieves just like flies.
Other Comments by JSW
14. Comment #89715 by occam's machete on November 21, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I hope the news reaches the Federal Correction Institution in Edgefield so Hovind can incorporate this into his tale of giant animals in the past due to increased oxygen and his fabulous ice canopy.Other Comments by occam's machete
15. Comment #89728 by Quine on November 21, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I wonder if they will now have to do a big animatronic claw coming out of the pond at the Creation Museum. Other Comments by Quine
16. Comment #89771 by Will in Aus on November 21, 2007 at 5:02 pm
"The biggest scorpion today is nearly 30cm so that shows you how big this creature was," said Dr Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK.
Even that scares me.....
Other Comments by Will in Aus
17. Comment #89783 by Russell Blackford on November 21, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Hasn't Christopher Hitchens been debating with a few similar creatures of late?Other Comments by Russell Blackford
18. Comment #89798 by kraut on November 21, 2007 at 6:22 pm
"Or a man sized spider that spins its web on high ways intersections to make a meal out of un-suspecting travelers."the problem is - in what enclosure would I keep that one?...when I think of nandhu vulpinus in supersize...
Other Comments by kraut
19. Comment #89803 by 35bluejacket on November 21, 2007 at 6:57 pm
I wonder if models of a giant scorpions have been ordered for the creation museums.Wish they were still swimming the seas. They would be fun to hunt.
Other Comments by 35bluejacket
20. Comment #89810 by 35bluejacket on November 21, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I never understood why spiderman had web comming out of his hands. (No science Hollywood) It should have been out his south end, Can't you picture the big screen with him flying through the buildings shooting web out his...Other Comments by 35bluejacket
21. Comment #89822 by black wolf on November 21, 2007 at 8:07 pm
And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."Apparently Jaekelopterus took this a bit too literally. 'Hey mom! Look at me! I'm filling the waters!'
Other Comments by black wolf
22. Comment #89833 by JSW on November 21, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I never understood why spiderman had web comming out of his hands. (No science Hollywood) It should have been out his south end, Can't you picture the big screen with him flying through the buildings shooting web out his...That's because webbing isn't actually one of Spider-Man's superpowers. After getting bitten by the spider and gaining super-strength, the ability to climb walls and the spider-sense, Peter decided to complete the package by inventing web-shooting devices that attached to his wrists.
Of course, Hollywood had to dumb it down, and then the newer comics followed suit, but it at least made marginally more sense as originally written.
Other Comments by JSW
23. Comment #89840 by mr-zero on November 21, 2007 at 11:18 pm
The claw is amazing! But how do they extrapolate the creature's size from it? Looking at the claw only I would have guessed that the full animal would be perhaps just over a metre long. Still pretty impressive!. Is there other evidence of size besides the claw?Z
Other Comments by mr-zero
24. Comment #89856 by Spiral on November 22, 2007 at 1:35 am
Waiting for Prof. Dawkins reaction, since I believe he stated in The Ancestor's Tale that he's afraid of scorpions due to a painful childhood experience. Other Comments by Spiral
25. Comment #89858 by BAEOZ on November 22, 2007 at 1:37 am
It should have been out his south end, Can't you picture the big screen with him flying through the buildings shooting web out his...
And what about Shelob in the Lord of the Rings? Stabbing victims with her derierre! Spiders bite not sting.
Other Comments by BAEOZ
26. Comment #89870 by Quetzalcoatl on November 22, 2007 at 2:20 am
This may not add much to the discussion, but I wanted to say that I find stuff like this claw to be very cool.35bluejacket-
Wish they were still swimming the seas. They would be fun to hunt
They'd be more likely hunting YOU.
Other Comments by Quetzalcoatl
27. Comment #89929 by hexhunter on November 22, 2007 at 7:18 am
Sounds like the crocodile might have filled it's niche, just like herds of reptiles becoming herds of cows, and reptilian flying animals becoming birds.I think what he actually meant about size was that big animals go extinct easier than their smaller cousins, which is why there are still Lizards, despite the lack of Dinosaurs.
Other Comments by hexhunter
28. Comment #89991 by cerbera on November 22, 2007 at 10:37 am
And what about Shelob in the Lord of the Rings? Stabbing victims with her derierre! Spiders bite not sting.
Of course you are right, but in a film THAT epic, even spider enthusiasts like myself must bow to the cinematic visual experience that you get by adding 'features' to creatures. And, of course, this is the joy of fiction...
Other Comments by cerbera
29. Comment #90000 by EgoSumNemo on November 22, 2007 at 11:23 am
LotR are good movies (but not as good as the books). And yes, Shelob is an evil monster, but this dude would've eaten her for breakfastXDMan, I would not like to meet one of those.
and for the movies...I can really see them taking the place of todays zombie movies. Crappy B-class horror movies, with titles like: "The return of the huge bloody Scorpion of the sea!" XD
Other Comments by EgoSumNemo
30. Comment #90030 by Goldy on November 22, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Although, I'm sure that had they been here all along, humans would have been accustomed to them and not disconcerted by them.
I dare say we're talking about a mother of a lobster here!!!
Other Comments by Goldy
31. Comment #90201 by monkey74 on November 23, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I also thought of the same question that mr-zero posted above and hope someone can clarify for those of us who are wondering. I would like to know how the overall proportion of a creature is figured out when just one part of its anatomy is discovered and there is no additional physical imprint of the animal. Just as there could be a large scorpion with a small claw, there could be a smaller scorpion with a proportionately larger claw. My guess is that some animals are probably easier to measure than others depending on its structure and regularity of that feature, and that comparative anatomical analysis is done on some organism that is similar and found in a more intact state. Please inform us on how this is accomplished or provide direction on where to learn this. Thanks.
Other Comments by monkey74
32. Comment #90237 by bluebird on November 23, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Wonder if it would resemble this (yikes):http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiranapoleon/2049724610
Andrew Zimmer, grab a time-machine & some Old Bay!
Other Comments by bluebird
33. Comment #90271 by Goldy on November 23, 2007 at 9:59 pm
http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071120/full/news.2007.272.htmlhttp://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/t15r2588mn27n0w1/
For more information and to hopefully illuminate how they came by extrapolating its size from the claw. Go for Biological letters first...
I too am intrigued...
Other Comments by Goldy
34. Comment #90281 by tybowen on November 24, 2007 at 12:35 am
Even if the claw is disproportionally large for a body, the claw itself is still 46 cm. That is a huge ass scorpion even if it is mis-sized. But I assume they have taken many measurements of scorpion anatomy and ratios as they have done with human bones so that the 2.5m is a pretty good guess. Other Comments by tybowen
35. Comment #90333 by The Energist on November 24, 2007 at 10:41 am
To be pedantic, this animal is not a true scorpion (it is a eurypterid, not an arachnid, but both are chelicerates) as such, you could say it is somewhere between a scorpion and a horseshoe crab.Here is the fossilized trackway of a similar eurypterid:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Hibbertopteroid_track.jpg
This trackway was made on land by an animal about two meters long. It appears to have been moving very slowly.
Living around the same time as these eurypterids were also true scorpions, such as Brontoscorpio, which was also quite large (about one meter) and also aquatic.
Here is an episode of the BBC's Walking With Monsters series, depicting a eurypterid (Pterygotus), Brontoscorpio and some other animals. It takes some artistic license and is therefore a bit inaccurate, but the depictions are nice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7niMVm7xxLk
Other Comments by The Energist
36. Comment #90340 by bluebird on November 24, 2007 at 11:12 am
The Energist, Thanks for all that info!We've watched 'Walking w/Dinosaurs' & 'Walking w/Cavemen', but somehow missed w/Monsters. It's now on our Netflix list, and glad it's posted here too.
Over Winter Solstice break we plan to see this:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/seamonsters/index.html
Other Comments by bluebird
37. Comment #90350 by The Energist on November 24, 2007 at 12:50 pm
You're very welcome, bluebird. I have Walking With Monsters and Walking With Beasts on DVD, and I watched the other on TV in England. I'd like to see Sea Monsters, I hope it comes out over here.I have been interested in prehistoric life since I was a young child, like many people I guess, but it just never left me! To think of all that time and all that life on this planet, it just leaves me in awe. Young-Earth creationists don't know what they're missing!
Other Comments by The Energist
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1. Comment #89652 by mumbles on November 21, 2007 at 11:36 am
jk
Other Comments by mumbles