A new species resembling a giant sea scorpion has been discovered at the Xiushan Formation in China. The new genus and species Terropterus xiushanensis, named after its discovery site, is the first mixopterid eurypterids found from the Lower Silurian. It is estimated that the organism lived approximately 435 million years ago during the Llandovery epoch. The discovery is published in the journal Science Bulletin.
“Eurypterids, or sea scorpions, are an important group of mid-Paleozoic chelicerate arthropods whose evolution and paleoecological significance have attracted much attention in recent years,” said Professor Bo Wang from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues.
The ancient creature belongs to a family of sea scorpions called Mixopteridae that is known to be large and scorpion-like eurypterids with highly specialized anterior appendages. For instance, their second and third pairs of prosomal limbs are enlarged and very spiny that are used for capturing prey.
Only four species from two genera of this kind have been described in the past 80 years, and all of these species are Silurian in age and found on the ancient continent of Laurussia. On the other hand, Terropterus xiushanensis is the first to be found from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana.
Image: Dinghua Yang