Authored by Maria Mocerino via Interesting Engineering,
The University of Manchester has discovered that the world's largest scorpion, which lived 415 million years ago, was hiding in the museum's collection for 150 years.
Since the 1870s, researchers have debated the identity of the strange fossil remains lurking in the Manchester archives. They possessed tiny fragments recovered from sites in England and Wales that puzzled them, but they could not piece them together. Was it a large woodlouse-crustacean?
In the 1980s, some research suggested that a scorpion might be the source of the fossil remains. However, this hypothesis faced challenges due to a lack of fossil evidence of its most distinctive feature: its tail.
To resolve the debate, paleontologists conducted a study of the remains using modern imaging and analytical techniques, according to a press release from the University of Manchester. They were "able to build a clearer picture of the animal than was previously possible, which is really exciting."
The 3.3-foot-long Praearcturus gigas scorpion now joins the ranks of Earth's ferocious prehistoric beasts, boasting pincers 6.2 inches long. As it roamed the Earth over 400 million years ago, researchers sought to understand the factors that allowed this prehistoric predator to grow to such an astonishing size.
The T. Rex of Scorpions
According to the study authors, "Along with dinosaurs, mammoths, and other charismatic megafauna, giant arthropods are an iconic symbol of the Earth's deep paleontological history in popular culture."
Lead author Dr. Richard J. Howard, Curator of Fossil Arthropods at the Natural History Museum in London, described the imagery often associated with giant arthropods: "Carboniferous rainforests filled with giant millipedes or dragonfly-like insects... but Praearcturus lived at least 50 million years earlier, well before the evolution of trees, when life on land was just beginning."
In other words, researchers may have identified the T. rex of arthropods nearly two hundred million years before the rise of the dinosaurs. The Praearcturus gigas lived during the Early Devonian period - a time when forests had not yet evolved - so this giant scorpion lived among small plants and fungi, as per the press release.
What Did It Eat?
Researchers were stunned: how did the scorpion grow to such a size, surrounded by relatively unassuming and unimposing neighbors? The answer lies in its lack of competition. As few large animals were present at that time, Praearcturus was free to become a predatory giant, according to the NYPost.
Furthermore, the "cool" creature, which might inspire a new figurine in a child's toy collection, may have been partially aquatic, as suggested by its epimera - the descending lateral plates or flaps found on the bodies of crustaceans.
Dr. Howard stated in Live Science, "Without complex ecosystems to support Praearcturus on land, these animals probably spent part of their lives hunting in water." The Praearcturus was even "before its time," and its extraordinary size might be explained by one factor: water.
"This places Praearcturus at a pivotal moment in Earth's history when animals were first experimenting with life outside the oceans," as per a press release.
"The boundary between land and sea was much less defined at this time," Dr Greg Edgecombe, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum, London, and co-author of the study, continued. "Praearcturus gives us a fascinating glimpse into how early animals adapted to these changing environments."
"It may even represent a lineage that returned to the water after earlier ancestors had already begun living on land," AOL concludes.
You can read the study here.