Eurypterids
References:
SCORPIONS
Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis
Locality: Waterloo Farm Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis Locality: Waterloo Farm Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis was described from extremely rare remains of an ancient species of scorpion from Waterloo Farm (1), including the stinger and the pincer. It is very likely that this early scorpion was a land-dwelling predator, although it’s (possibly soft bodied) prey have not yet been found. Although Gondwanascorpio is the earliest land animal known from the whole of Gondwana, scorpions had appeared by as early as 430 million years ago, as suggested by new finds in Wisconsin USA (2). There is still a lot of debate about whether the earliest scorpions on Earth were aquatic or land dwellers. Based on a remarkably well-preserved scorpion from the Devonian Hunsruck slate of Germany exhibiting book lungs (see below), it has been suggested that scorpions were already able to breathe air in the manner that their modern descendants do (3). References:
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