The largest-ever scorpion roamed Britain 400 million years ago
CNN • • science
Key Points:
- Scientists have reclassified Praearcturus gigas, a giant arthropod fossil from roughly 415 million years ago found in Great Britain, as the largest known scorpion, measuring about 1 meter (3 feet) long.
- The research team used CT scans and comparisons with a 2015 Canadian scorpion fossil to identify key scorpion features, such as a long triangular sternum with a central groove, supporting the reclassification.
- P. gigas likely lived an amphibious lifestyle during the early Devonian Period, feeding on primitive fish, and had unusually large pincers about 16 centimeters long, much bigger than those of modern scorpions.
- Some experts remain cautious due to incomplete fossil evidence, noting the absence of a tail sting and sensory organs typical of scorpions, but lead researchers argue these features likely existed despite missing fossil parts.
- This revision has broader implications for paleobiology databases and may prompt increased discoveries and reassessments of early scorpion species, altering our understanding of arthropod diversity in the Devonian era.