A new mid-Silurian aquatic scorpion - One step closer to land?

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Abstract

One of the oldest known fossil scorpions, a new species from the mid-Silurian Eramosa Formation (430 myr) of Ontario, Canada, exhibits several surprising features. The depositional environment and associated biota indicate a marine habitat; however, the leg morphology of this scorpion, which has a short tarsus in common with all Recent scorpions, suggests that a key adaptation for terrestrial locomotion, the ability to support its weight on a subterminal 'foot', appeared remarkably early in the scorpion fossil record. Specimens are preserved intact and undisturbed in a splayed posture typical of moults rather than carcasses. We postulate that these animals were aquatic, but occasionally ventured into extremely shallow water, or onto a transient sub-aerially exposed surface while moulting, before returning to deeper water. Shed exuviae were preserved in situ by rapid overgrowth of bacterial biofilm.

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Waddington, J., Rudkin, D. M., & Dunlop, J. A. (2015). A new mid-Silurian aquatic scorpion - One step closer to land? Biology Letters, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0815

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