Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Big Bug

image

British scientists have stumbled across a fossilized claw, part of an ancient sea scorpion, that is of such large proportion it would make the entire creature the biggest bug ever. How big? Bigger than you, and at 8 feet long as big as some Smart cars.

The discovery in 390-million-year-old rocks suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were far larger in the past than previously thought, said Simon Braddy, a University of Bristol paleontologist and one of the study’s three authors.

“This is an amazing discovery,” he said Tuesday.

“We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies. But we never realized until now just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were,” he said.

The research found a type of sea scorpion that was almost half a yard longer than previous estimates and the largest one ever to have evolved.

Ew.

(4) Comments
Posted by Owen at 2159 hrs
Off-Duty

  1. “...as big as some Smart cars.”

    Aren’t regular bugs as big as some Smart cars?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 21, 2007 at 0747 hrs


  2. Yikes!  Run for your lives!!!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 21, 2007 at 1030 hrs


  3. Didn’t know Jim Doyle’s bloodline went back that far.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on November 21, 2007 at 1303 hrs


  4. Gonna need a big ol’ can of Raid to kill that bug.

    Posted by pdigaudio on November 22, 2007 at 1028 hrs


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.