Description

Pterygotus (Erettopterus) bilobus (Salter)
Early Silurian
Upper Ludlow Formation
Logan, Scotland

143mm on 165mm slab

Eurypterids appeared during the Ordovician but diversified during the Silurian and Devonian with some genera becoming apex predators in brackish and freshwater ecosystems.  Mass extinctions that decimated marine ecosystems at the end of the Devonian also greatly decreased the diversity of eurypterids.  They became rare in the Carboniferous and Permian, dying out completely during the end-Permian extinction.

This is a specimen for a collector who needs a new “sea scorpion” to pair with the Eurypterus specimen acquired years ago.