Eight Foot Long Sea Scorpion Discovered

Scientists have discovered a 390 million-year-old fossilized claw belonging to the largest eurypterid ever found. At over 8 feet long (2.5 meters) it's also the largest member of the arthropods, the group of animals that includes insects, spiders, and marine animals such as lobsters and crabs.

Paleontologists made the discovery at a rock quarry in Germany. Eurypterids were ancient scorpion-like crustaceans. They lived in the oceans and waters of the Paleozoic era and are thought to be ancestral to modern land-dwelling scorpions.

Source: University of Bristol
Photo by Markus Poschmann