Description
Great Little New York Eurypterid
Arthropod of the Ancient Silurian Sea some called them “Sea Scorpions”.
This is a wonderful New York Eurypterid from the deposits of Central New York. Because they come from a private quarry they are very hard to get. Rarely do these make it to the market but in this case we have a few.
This New York Eurypterid is nearly complete. It is missing the tail but it has some parts most other fossil Eurypterids do not.
Eurypterids are sometimes called “Sea Scorpions”. They are arthropods that lived from the Ordovician to the great Permian Extinction but reached their zenith during the Silurian. Eurypterids are well known for their scorpion like appearance but are not scorpions, they are closely related to Horseshoe Crabs. They were quite formidable predators. Living in the ancient salt water seas they fed on trilobites and other sea creatures.
This New York Eurypterid inhabited shallow seas and lagoons. As arthropods they had a hard dorsal exoskeleton and jointed legs. But they are easily identified by the long tail spine or telson. The largest recorded was over 7 feet long but are rarely are they ever found complete. Most are discarded exoskeletons as they molted. The molts washed close to shore and into depressions but then were covered by sediment.
Eurypterus remipes is the state fossil of New York State and is found at a location in Illion, New York.
Many of the specimens seen in museums and for sale come from the famous Lang’s Quarry owned by R.A. Langheinrich.
Eurypterus remipes
Silurian Period
Fiddlers Green Formation
Lang’s Quarry
Illion, New York
