Pterygotid
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Pterygotid
Pterygotidae (the name deriving from the type genus ''Pterygotus'', meaning "winged one") is a family of eurypterids, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. They were members of the superfamily Pterygotioidea. Pterygotids were the largest known arthropods to have ever lived with some members of the family, such as ''Jaekelopterus'' and '' Acutiramus'', exceeding 2 metres (6.6 ft) in length. Their fossilized remains have been recovered in deposits ranging in age from 428 to 372 million years old (Late Silurian to Late Devonian). One of the most successful groups of eurypterids, the pterygotids were the only eurypterid family to achieve a truly worldwide distribution. Several evolutionary innovations made the pterygotids unique among the eurypterids, with large and flattened telsons (the posteriormost division of the body) likely used as rudders to provide additional agility and enlarged chelicerae (frontal appendages) with claws. These claws were robust and possessed teeth ...
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Pterygotus Anglicus
''Pterygotus'' is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Pterygotus'' have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Late Devonian, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from four continents; Australia, Europe, North America and South America, which indicates that ''Pterygotus'' might have had a nearly cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution. The type species, ''P. anglicus'', was described by Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz in 1839, who gave it the name ''Pterygotus'', meaning "winged one". Agassiz mistakenly believed the remains were of a giant fish; he would only realize the mistake five years later in 1844. ''Pterygotus'' was among the largest eurypterids. Isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (frontal appendage) suggests that the largest known species, ''P. grandidentatus'', reached a body length of . Several other species, notably ''P. impacatus'' at ...
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Pterygotus
''Pterygotus'' is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Pterygotus'' have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Late Devonian, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from four continents; Australia, Europe, North America and South America, which indicates that ''Pterygotus'' might have had a nearly cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution. The type species, ''P. anglicus'', was described by Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz in 1839, who gave it the name ''Pterygotus'', meaning "winged one". Agassiz mistakenly believed the remains were of a giant fish; he would only realize the mistake five years later in 1844. ''Pterygotus'' was among the largest eurypterids. Isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (frontal appendage) suggests that the largest known species, ''P. grandidentatus'', reached a body length of . Several other species, notably ''P. impacatus'' at ...
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Jaekelopterus Howelli
''Jaekelopterus'' is a genus of predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Jaekelopterus'' have been discovered in deposits of Early Devonian age, from the Pragian and Emsian stages. There are two known species: the type species ''J. rhenaniae'' from brackish to fresh water strata in the Rhineland, and ''J. howelli'' from estuarine strata in Wyoming. The generic name combines the name of German paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who described the type species, and the Greek word πτερόν (''pteron'') meaning "wing". Based on the isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (claw) from the Klerf Formation of Germany, ''J. rhenaniae'' has been estimated to have reached a size of around 2.3–2.6 metres (7.5–8.5 ft), making it the largest arthropod ever discovered, surpassing other large arthropods such as fellow eurypterids ''Acutiramus'' and ''Pterygotus'' and the millipede ''Arthropleura''. ''J. howelli'' was much smaller, reaching 80 centim ...
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Jaekelopterus
''Jaekelopterus'' is a genus of predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Jaekelopterus'' have been discovered in deposits of Early Devonian age, from the Pragian and Emsian stages. There are two known species: the type species ''J. rhenaniae'' from brackish to fresh water strata in the Rhineland, and ''J. howelli'' from estuarine strata in Wyoming. The generic name combines the name of German paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who described the type species, and the Greek word πτερόν (''pteron'') meaning "wing". Based on the isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (claw) from the Klerf Formation of Germany, ''J. rhenaniae'' has been estimated to have reached a size of around 2.3–2.6 metres (7.5–8.5 ft), making it the largest arthropod ever discovered, surpassing other large arthropods such as fellow eurypterids '' Acutiramus'' and ''Pterygotus'' and the millipede ''Arthropleura''. ''J. howelli'' was much smaller, reaching 80 ce ...
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Jaekelopterus Rhenaniae
''Jaekelopterus'' is a genus of predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Jaekelopterus'' have been discovered in deposits of Early Devonian age, from the Pragian and Emsian stages. There are two known species: the type species ''J. rhenaniae'' from brackish to fresh water strata in the Rhineland, and ''J. howelli'' from estuarine strata in Wyoming. The generic name combines the name of German paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who described the type species, and the Greek word πτερόν (''pteron'') meaning "wing". Based on the isolated fossil remains of a large chelicera (claw) from the Klerf Formation of Germany, ''J. rhenaniae'' has been estimated to have reached a size of around 2.3–2.6 metres (7.5–8.5 ft), making it the largest arthropod ever discovered, surpassing other large arthropods such as fellow eurypterids ''Acutiramus'' and ''Pterygotus'' and the millipede ''Arthropleura''. ''J. howelli'' was much smaller, reaching 80 centim ...
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Jaekelopterus Rhenaniae Reconstruction
''Jaekelopterus'' is a genus of predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Jaekelopterus'' have been discovered in deposits of Early Devonian age, from the Pragian and Emsian stages. There are two known species: the type species ''J. rhenaniae'' from Brackish water, brackish to fresh water strata in the Rhineland, and ''J. howelli'' from Estuary, estuarine strata in Wyoming. The generic name combines the name of German paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who described the type species, and the Ancient Greek, Greek word πτερόν (''pteron'') meaning "wing". Based on the isolated fossil remains of a large Chelicerae, chelicera (claw) from the Klerf Formation of Germany, ''J. rhenaniae'' has been estimated to have reached a size of around 2.3–2.6 metres (7.5–8.5 ft), making it the largest arthropod ever discovered, surpassing other large arthropods such as fellow eurypterids ''Acutiramus'' and ''Pterygotus'' and the millipede ''Arthropleura''. ...
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Acutiramus
''Acutiramus'' is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Acutiramus'' have been discovered in deposits of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age. Seven species have been described, five from North America (including ''A. cummingsi'', the type speciesTollerton, V. P. Jr 1997The Type Species of the Eurypterid Genus ''Acutiramus'' Ruedemann, 1935 ''Journal of Paleontology'' 71(5):950-951) and two from the Czech RepublicDunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2018A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives In World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern (with one of them potentially found in Australia as well). The generic name derives from Latin ''acuto'' ("acute" or "sharp") and Latin ''ramus'' ("branch"), referring to the acute angle of the final tooth of the claws relative to the rest of the claw.Størmer, L. 1955. Merostomata. ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part P Arthropoda 2, Chelicerata'', P: 30–31. '' ...
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Ciurcopterus
''Ciurcopterus'' is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Ciurcopterus'' have been discovered in deposits of Late Silurian age in North America. Classified as part of the family Pterygotidae, the genus contains two species, ''C. sarlei'' from Pittsford, New York and ''C. ventricosus'' from Kokomo, Indiana. The genus is named in honor of Samuel J. Ciurca, Jr., who has contributed significantly to eurypterid research by discovering a large amount of eurypterid specimens, including the four specimens used to describe ''Ciurcopterus'' itself. ''Ciurcopterus'' is the most basal (primitive) known member of the Pterygotidae, and combined characteristics of more derived members of the family with features of close relatives of the group, such as '' Slimonia''. Measuring 70 centimetres (28 inches) in length, ''Ciurcopterus'' was relatively large though smaller than many of the later members of its family, which would grow to become the largest known a ...
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Eurypterid
Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct arthropods that form the Order (biology), order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period 467.3 Myr, million years ago. The group is likely to have appeared first either during the Early Ordovician or Late Cambrian period. With approximately 250 species, the Eurypterida is the most diverse Paleozoic Chelicerata, chelicerate order. Following their appearance during the Ordovician, eurypterids became major components of marine faunas during the Silurian, from which the majority of eurypterid species have been described. The Silurian genus ''Eurypterus'' accounts for more than 90% of all known eurypterid specimens. Though the group continued to diversify during the subsequent Devonian period, the eurypterids were heavily affected by the Late Devonian extinction event. They declined in numbers and diversity until becoming extinct during the Permian–Tri ...
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Erettopterus
''Erettopterus'' is a genus of large predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of ''Erettopterus'' have been discovered in deposits ranging from Early Silurian (the Rhuddanian age) to the Early Devonian (the Lochkovian age), and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from two continents; Europe and North America. The genus name is composed by the Ancient Greek words ἐρέττω (''eréttō''), which means "rower", and πτερόν (''pterón''), which means "wing", and therefore, "rower wing". ''Erettopterus'' is classified as part of the eurypterid family Pterygotidae, a family differentiated from other eurypterids by their flattened telsons (the most posterior segment of the body) and their modified chelicerae (frontal appendages), ending in well-developed chelae (claws). Although some pterygotid eurypterids, such as ''Jaekelopterus'' or '' Acutiramus'' grew to gigantic proportions, it is estimated that the ...
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Pterygotioidea
Pterygotioidea (the name deriving from the type genus ''Pterygotus'', meaning "winged one") is a superfamily of eurypterids, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Pterygotioids were the most derived members of the infraorder Diploperculata and the sister group of the adelophthalmoid eurypterids. The group includes the basal and small hughmilleriids, the larger and specialized slimonids and the famous pterygotids which were equipped with robust and powerful cheliceral claws. Though the more primitive hughmilleriids were small, '' Hughmilleria wangi'' being the smallest of all pterygotioids at just in length, later members of the group, particularly in the Pterygotidae, would become the largest known arthropods to ever exist with several genera surpassing in length. Among all currently recognized eurypterid clades, the Pterygotioidea is the most diverse, containing over 50 species in 10 genera. With the number of recognized eurypterid species being around 250, pterygotio ...
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Necrogammarus
''Necrogammarus salweyi'' is the binomial name applied to an arthropod fossil discovered in Herefordshire, England. The fossil represents a fragmentary section of the underside and an appendage of a pterygotid eurypterid, a group of large and predatory aquatic arthropods that lived from the late Silurian to the late Devonian. The ''Necrogammarus'' fossil is Late Silurian in age and its generic name means "dead lobster", deriving from Ancient Greek νεκρός (''nekrós'', “dead body”) and Latin ''gammarus'' ("lobster"). Historically classified as either a millipede or a crustacean (hence the name) and once considered to potentially represent the oldest myriapod in the fossil record, ''Necrogammarus'' was first revealed to represent a fragmentary section of a large pterygotid eurypterid in 1986 by the researcher Paul Selden. As two large pterygotids are already known from the same locality and same timespan as ''Necrogammarus'', ''Erettopterus'' and ''Pterygotus'', it is pos ...
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