Dr Richie Howard
arthropoda-curator.bsky.social
Curator of Fossil Arthropods at the Natural History Museum, London 🦂 Nature geek and outdoor enthusiast with a passion for angling 🌞🌿
👤 Joined on 15 November 2024
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- 15 Kas 2024, 07:44
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Who here among us does not love a gigantic amphibious or aquatic Early Devonian predatory scorpion? Kudos to @arthropoda-curator.bsky.social & colleagues on their unraveling the identity of Praearcturus gigas, & here's to hoping someone, someday finds its tracks & other trace fossils, too. 🧪🪨⚒️🦂
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Though it was found in terrestrial sandstones alongside land plants, it lived at a time where other land animals were tiny. This, combined with the "flaps" on its sides (epimera), suggest that it likely lived in freshwater or was amphibious. Read the paper here:
Show PostKey features: - Bumps on carapace and “palms” but not fingers - Pincers medium build, not tweezer-like but also not robust like modern Pandinus - Grooves on the carapace - “Flaps” (epimera) on the sides, likely curving down like lobsters - Legs, tail, eyes inferred from its relative Eramoscorpius
Show PostThe environment is interpreted as a braided river ecosystem with the plant Horneophyton and the mystery towers Prototaxites. The water would have eurypterids like Pagea and fish like Cephalaspis, not included here to reduce clutter.
Show PostSay hi to Praearcturus gigas. This Devonian arthropod from Britain's identity had been in dispute for ages, but a new study reinterpreted it as a giant scorpion. Though the fossil is fragmentary, the estimated size is about 1 meter long. This is one bug you want to ride into battle. #Art #SciArt
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