Scorpion bigger than human described

[Desdichado]

Really? Was it on again?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Really? Was it on again?

No, I have it on VCD.

 

[Desdichado]

"Before the Dinosaurs" you have on VCD? And you saw it between the post where you said "I'll have to keep my eyes out for that one!" and "Still, it is an excellent program!"?

Or are we getting our wires crossed and talking about two different shows here? Because I was talking about "Before the Dinosaurs"--I don't know anything about that "Origins" show you mentioned.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Or are we getting our wires crossed and talking about two different shows here? Because I was talking about "Before the Dinosaurs"--I don't know anything about that "Origins" show you mentioned.

Whoops, wires crossed.

 

[Desdichado]

I suspected as much! And yes, keep your eyes open for it; it's pretty good. Plus, it highlights a lot of stuff most people don't know much about. I mean, yeah, sure, everyone's seen a Dimetrodon with it's big sailback and all that, but other than that, almost everything there was relatively obscure.

 

[Umbran]

That article is very weird. It mentions the group of animals that it belongs to, but doesn't actually name them. I assume based on the time and size that it's a eurypterid, but those aren't really scorpions.

Chalk it up to a reporter who hasn't done his homework.

"Water scorpions" in the modern parlance are insects of the order Hemiptera.

 

[Omegaz]

That article is very weird. It mentions the group of animals that it belongs to, but doesn't actually name them. I assume based on the time and size that it's a eurypterid, but those aren't really scorpions.

And finding footprints is hardly the same as describing a new animal. I'm very confused.

Yes Hibbertopterus was a eurypterid. Its full scientific classification was:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Eurypterida
Genus: Eurypterus

The entire class died out around 270 million years ago, so far as we are aware. Its fairly common to refer to Euryterids as sea scorpions since they are morphologically so similar and it is thought they are distantly related to scorpions.

The significance of finding the footprints is that it shows that Hibbertopterus sometimes came out of the water and walked, at least for short periods.

From what we know of Hibbertopterus it wasn't a ferocious predator. It didn't have big pincers or a sting, and probably fed on small invertebrates. If you encounter one in your time travels and it does sting or bite you, let me know

 

[elforcelf]

It did not attack me at all.

 

[Ferret]

I read it in The Times (Newspaper). Looked cool.