Description

Erieopterus sp.
Early Devonian
Dnister River, Ukraine

Large 92mm eurypterid on 130mm slab. First we have ever seen. Extremely rare.

Erieopterus is a genus of eurypterid best known from the Early Devonian of North America (Michigan, New York, Ontario, Canada) so the occurrence in Ukraine is a significant extension of its paleogeographic range.

The vast majority of eurypterid fossils on the market belong to the species, Eurypterus remipes, from the Late Silurian of New York.   Many advanced collectors already have a specimen or two of that species.  What they want now is an example of one of the more scarce and obscure Devonian-Permian forms.  Here’s one from a time when eurypterids were still diverse but shifting from marine to brackish water and freshwater environments.