Фото: sci-news.com / Dinghua Yang
Image of Terropterus xiushanensis
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The large arthropod inhabited the supercontinent of Gondwana and was among the main predators of the marine ecosystem 435 million years ago.
Chinese paleontologists have discovered fossils of a large crustacean that lived about 435 million years ago. An article about this was published in the journal Science Bulletin. Sci News.-
Remains of Terropterus xiushanensis were found in the south of China in the Xushan Autonomous County. It is noted that these are the first and oldest mixopterids that lived on the territory of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, formed after the collapse of Pangea.
The mixopterid family belongs to the eurypterids (order of fossil arthropods), which reached one meter in length.
Their second and third pairs of forelimbs were very spiny and enlarged. Researchers believe that the crustaceans used them to capture prey.
According to scientists, the predator occupied a high position in the marine ecosystem of the Silurian period, since at that time there were no large vertebrates that could compete with it. –
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