Jaekelopterus
Jaekelopterus rhenaniae
It is one of the largest known arthropods and shows that some Devonian predators reached impressive sizes.
Image: Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Jaekelopterus rhenaniae
- Period
- Early Devonian
- Lived
- 410–390 Ma (410 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Freshwater, Coast
- Length (estimate)
- 2.3 m
Description
This sea scorpion had a long, segmented body, powerful front grasping limbs and a flattened swimming appendage. Its length of over two metres is inferred from a large claw and remains an estimate because the complete animal is unknown. Jaekelopterus lived in fresh to brackish water and probably hunted fish and other arthropods. Fossils provide no direct evidence of its precise hunting method.
Habitat
Rivers, estuaries and coastal waters.
Fossil sites
Prüm, Rhineland-Palatinate
Cultural profile: Germany →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Jaekelopterus