Eurypterid Sea Scorpion and Plant Fossils

Description: While Eurypterids (“Sea Scorpions”) are uncommon fossils worldwide, New York state is one of the few places where conditions for preservation have been ideal. They were large arthropod predators during the Silurian and Devonian, reaching a maximum length of 2 meters. The Eurypterid colonies of New York are distinctly localized, with two being found above and two below the salt beds of what was termed the Salina Series. Eurypterus remipes was a small example of the Merostomata, with specimens having been found ranging from 8 mm to 280 mm in length. It is presumed to have crawled along the seafloor, using its grasping pincers to seize trilobites and other prey. This fine example has the swimming paddles and several walking legs preserved. The telson is bent to the right. A second opistothorax can also be seen. What is uncommon is the presence of a plant called Inocaulis. This one was an aquatic plant colloquially termed “finger plant”. While believed to be a graptolite by some, evidence of thin water-conducting strands belie that conception. This is a fine example of the fossil designated the New York Sate Fossil by then Governor Mario Cuomo in 1984 with a plant that helped lead the way to the eventual colonization of the land by plants and subsequently, animals.

Also see this larger museum quality Eurypterus remipes, a mass mortality, as well as a Pterygotus sea scorpion from Scotland.