Fossil of giant sea scorpion species discovered in New Mexico

Category : Science and Tech Published on: February 02 2023

Share on facebook

A fossil of a giant ancient sea scorpion species that lived between 307 and 303 million years ago has been discovered in New Mexico.
Hibbertopterus lamsdelli was over a metre long and belonged to an extinct group of aquatic arthropods that fed on small crustaceans, invertebrate larvae and gastropod eggs.
According to researchers from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History this type of giant scorpion fossil is extremely rare.
The fossil is over 307 million years ago - and its Latin name is Hibbertopterus lamsdelli.
The team say it's from a family of aquatic arthropod invertebrates.
The fossil was found in a quarry bed - soil and rock at the bottom of a quarry.
This site is called Kinney Quarry, the bottom is known as the "fish bed" because of all the fossils of fish found there.