Yale University/AP
This rendering provided by Yale University shows a Pentecopterus decorahensis.
- Earth’s first big predatory monster was a weird water bug, newly found fossils show.
- Almost half a billion years ago, Earth’s dominant large predator was a sea scorpion that grew to 5 feet 7 inches, or 170 centimetres, with a dozen claw arms sprouting from its head, according to a new study.
- Scientists found signs of these new monsters deep in Iowa.
- Geologists at the Iowa Geological Survey found 150 pieces of fossils about 60 feet, or 18 meters, under the Upper Iowa River. Scientists at Yale University determined they were a new species from about 460 million years ago, when Iowa was under an ocean.
“This is the first real big predator,” lead author of the study, James
Lamsdell said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be swimming with it. There’s
something about bugs. When they’re a certain size, they shouldn’t be
allowed to get bigger.”
- This creature is named Pentecopterus decorahensis after an ancient Greek warship and is not a bug by science definitions, Dr. Lamsdell said. It’s part of the eurypterid family.
Unlike modern land scorpions, this creature’s tail didn’t sting. It was
used more for balance and in swimming, but half this creature’s length
was tail.
There were larger sea scorpions halfway around the world at the same
time but those were more bottom feeders instead of dominant predators,acc. to studies
“It was obviously a very aggressive animal,” he said. “It was a big angry bug.”
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