Wednesday, November 21, 2007

giant sea scorpion!


wow - glad these don't cruise the beaches during summer.... [excuse the sexist title]


BBC news reports:


"Man-sized sea scorpion claw found"

How the creature compares for size with a humanThe immense fossilised claw of a 2.5m-long (8ft) sea scorpion has been described by European researchers.
The 390-million-year-old specimen was found in a Germany quarry, the journal Biology Letters reports.
The creature, which has been named Jaekelopterus rhenaniae, would have paddled in a river or swamp.
The size of the beast suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought, the team says.
The claw itself measures 46cm - indicating its owner would have been longer even than the average-sized human.
Overall, it exceeds the record for any other sea scorpion (eurypterid) find by nearly 50cm.
The eurypterids are believed to be the extinct aquatic ancestors of modern land scorpions and possibly all arachnids (the class of animals that also includes spiders).
"The biggest scorpion today is nearly 30cm so that shows you how big this creature was," said Dr Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol, UK.
It was one of Dr Braddy's co-authors, Markus Poschmann, who made the discovery in the quarry near Prum in south-west Germany.
"I was loosening pieces of rock with a hammer and chisel when I suddenly realised there was a dark patch of organic matter on a freshly removed slab," he recalled.
"After some cleaning I could identify this as a small part of a large claw. Although I did not know if it was more complete or not, I decided to try and get it out.
"The pieces had to be cleaned separately, dried, and then glued back together. It was then put into a white plaster jacket to stabilise it."
Super-sized meals
The species existed during a period in Earth history when oxygen levels in the atmosphere were much higher than today.

The fossil was locked in a siltstone from the Carboniferous PeriodAnd it was those elevated levels, some palaeo-scientists believe, that may have helped drive the super-sized bodies of many of the invertebrates that existed at that time - monster millipedes, huge cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies.
But Dr Braddy thinks the large scales may have had a lot to do with the absence early on of vertebrate predators. As they came on the scene, these animals would have eaten all the biggest prey specimens.
"The fact that you are big means you are more likely to be seen and to be taken for a tastier morsel," he told BBC News. "Evolution will not select for large size; you want to be small so you can hide away."
The scorpions are thought to have made their first scuttles on to land about 450 million years ago.
While some would have taken up a fully terrestrial existence, others like Jaekelopterus rhenaniae would have maintained an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle.

71 comments:

Kitty Kat said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats so amazing!!!!
Just thhink..............i wonder what they might find in the future.

The scorpian is an Arthopod, a creature with 8 legs.

They are found in many countries although they arn't found in New Zealand and antarctica.

Scorpians possess venom (are poisonous) but this is only used to kill or paralise its prey, other Arthopods and is relitivly harmless to humans, having a bee-sting like affect.

They can live for up to 25 years, like to live in areas between 20-30 deegrees C and they are nocturnal.

This is all in my own words but my information came from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpian

Could you tell me whats I need to know about the gala tomorrow???

83)

Kitty Kat said...

also this information is about land scorpians.

Sea Scorpian:

sea scorpians are the biggest arthopod so far found...(as proven by the post!!!) it is also called eurypterid.

it hink they are extinct from what wikipeadia is saying.........was, were etc.....

same as above my words but info from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_scorpion

Bob smo said...

That is sooo freaky, iwonder if there were monkeys that big. now that would be funny

Bob smo said...

Any one notice how popular we are around the world on the clustr map nice very nice.

Piglet said...

If we can find bigger ones from the past then think if in the future they found a normal sized scorpion and thought it was huge! hey does anyone know if there were massive pigs in the past?

Kitty Kat said...

yeah wikipeadia was sugesting that in the past animals were REALLy big but as times gone on they've srunk and maybe they will keep doing that?? then everything would be very very little!! YAY! I like little things. Imagian a cat the size of your hand.
Do you know that the earth is gradully expanding?

Kitty Kat said...

Sorry off topic-could gym people visit Kit De Kats Bloggeroonie because I put a post about music for gymstraeda

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

Wow!!! its massive!

hehe, evolution? i wonder why they get smaller.....(if its true....)

Miss Candy said...

it doesn't suprise me. millions of years ago there was more oxygen then than now(wonder why!) so animals(which was only insects) were taller and larger than now. i wonder what we would look like if we were back then. i wonder how smaller insects would be in the future!

MrWoody said...

som every intersting thoughts here guys - i really like miss candy's ideas about there being more oxygen back then - it makes sense to me that that could make things larger - can you work out the link - do you know that arthropods don't have lungs like us? but they do need oxygen. so how do they breathe?
delighted to see bob smo back in action - it makes me not MAD!!!
8>)

Catarara said...

wow that is freakishly huge!! and they don't have lungs like us hmm...

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

Scorpions breathe through four pairs of book lungs on the underside of the abdomen.

Some scientists believe that giant arthropods evolved because of higher oxygen levels in the atmosphere in the past.


in my own words but from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2007/11/21/sciscorp121.xml
and
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/scorpions.htm

Miss Candy said...

it wasn't only athropods, ROOM5IAN, it was also other insects who lived way back then. imagine in the future a lion the size of your palm. but then again that might not work because of theories of the world blowing up might happen in a few thousand years like for example the earths core is going to cool down and be like mars.

Kitty Kat said...

Miss Candy I heard that the theories of the earth blowing up is wrong. It is now more likly for it to get SO cold that it will just be nothing..............

yes. i knew about that oxegen thing too but some creatures (like the lion) might not be able to evolve into smaller creatures as they cant cope without so much oxegen.

Kitty Kat said...

oh also we are chopping trees down so therefore there will be less oxegen in the future for us to breathe!

SpUdArOoNy said...

argh.
i read this last night.
im sure i commented?!?
saying something to kitty kat?
Grr
oh well

yes i agree with ms candy.
she pretty much said it all for me

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

Argh! and more carbon dioxide!

trees use a process called photosynthesis which involves fixeing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (in the form of CO2) and stores it in its tissues (initially, in the form of carbohydrate). in the process, it releases oxygen to the atmosphere.

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/aug2000/965676157.Bt.r.html

i love trees.

primprim said...

wow that scorpion is really big.
I wonder, if animals might keep on shrinking, maybe we will too?

Bob smo said...

I heard that humans are getting bigger, taller and fatter because of our diet

Bob smo said...

I could be 20 ft tall, I could rule my house and beat up aligators

Bob smo said...

Hello any one in cyber space

Bob smo said...

come on any one anyone at all

MrWoody said...

smo - post something on your blog so we can leave comments for you -i tried last night but couldn't = also check your settings. have a look around the features of blogger through your dashboard.
great hear from you - but remmber -this isn't an IM sorta thing - its not a social site in the immediate sense, unless your lucky with your timing.
8>)
great day today - lotsa interesting and amazing things done by room5ians

Kitty Kat said...

yeah it was a good day!
yes photosynthesis. maybe that will stop or something although apparently they have found AN ALTERNITIVE PLANET (whooops) to earth that humans could live on. but to me thats like. we've mushed up this one so lets take over another one!

Catarara said...

an alternitive planet.. do you know what its called kitty kat??

Miss B said...

WOAH!! That is one huge sea squid thing!!! I wonder if all of these new species that are being discovered have anything to do with this Global Warming issue that we have been studying in class?? Whether the rising sea levels are making the marine life evolve and change?? INTERESTING!!

Kitty Kat said...

Maybe! We did our poster thing on everlotion and thats like the questioin we asked. it can take up to 6 million years for something to evoulotionize so yeah...
I dont think they had named it when it was on the news but in was like nicknamed xena.

so yeah.

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

yeah, but with the one im thinking of it would take something like a million years to get there....hmmmmm....unless we make a ship to live and breed on for one million years!

Miss Candy said...

umm kitty kat remember when i said that theres a planet calle duper earth that is one and a half time bigger than earth and that we can live in it! it has oxygen in it and water!

Kitty Kat said...

thats what i was talker about. is its new name Duper???????
It wouldn't take milions of year room5ian. its in our planet so it my tke a month or a year but yeah.

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

oh, sorry, it must be different one.

Miss Candy said...

sorry i meant Super earth, its a couple of light years away!

Kitty Kat said...

Super..........just over 40 light years away. It has a sun that is much bigger but dimmer than ours. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I wonder..........

Miss Candy said...

yeah thats the one! i wish we could go there. its bigger than or earth!

Kitty Kat said...

but because its bigger it means there's more gravity so we would feel like we were really heavy...

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

but maybe through evolution we could adjust to that....

Did anyone see the article in the Waikato times talking about the methane-eating bug? well....

GAS-EATING BUG SEEN AS AN ANSWER TO EMISSIONS

A tiny gas-gobbling bug from the depths of Hell is being championed as a way to cut methane emissions. The micro-organism lives in geothermal areas in Rotorua in very acidic conditions.GNS Science microbiologist Matthew Stott sais the hardy little bacteria was found after tests showed a lack of methane at the surface of Hell's Gate geothermal area.
"What we have found is a really tough methane-consuming organism that is new to science. It grows happily under extremely acidic conditions in the lab" he said.
- The Dominion Post

Written straight from the Waikato times.

Kitty Kat said...

yeah i saw that........maybe it might help G.W to slow down...hmmmm

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

Maybe the bug could be added to the animals food to stop the releasing of methane.... although the bug is supposed live in conditions with an acidic pH of like 60C.

Who saw that thing about whaling on the news just then....i think maybe the japanese could make the money by the whale watching business just as well and killing the whales....IT'S SO SAD!!!

Miss Candy said...

yeah i know !

something completley of topic- pokemon used to give kids seizers! scary ha, lots of kids died! this was in japan long time ago!

Kitty Kat said...

weird. maybe it was the electronics or something. anyway. it is really sad but part of life. we dont really have a right to say this is right. this is wrong. we can only state opinion. also I dont think that the bug should be added to animals food. it is stopping them doing things that are natural therefore upseting their bodys. BUT as stated. this is my OPINION. I have no right to say RIGHT. WRONG.

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

yeah, i dont think it would work anyway but how could we use these funny little creatures in our favour?

hmmm, our main source of methane is from, the agriculture/farming industry, but how else is it produced? if it is made from factories, maybe there could be an acidic filter in which the bug lives in, at the top of a chimney thingy. i also heard that one of these creatures can eat some thing like 11 litres of methane....

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

not necesserily kitty kat, i dont think they would and i probably wouldnt but bug might not necesserily upset the animals body. also, more methane is being releasxed as a result to the agriculture/farming industry worldwide and still growing, so the animals releasing the methane is natural, but the number of animals arent. Livestock account for 15 percent to 20 percent of global methane emissionshttp://www.thevegetariansite.com/env_animalfarming.htm

Kitty Kat said...

farmers have to pay a tax though. for tnhe amount of emmitions they produce...I think this goes for factories too...

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

but it still isnt natural and the farmers just pay it while the methane is produced. when you say factories do you mean methane because i know they produce CO2 but im not sure about methane, although a portion of it probably is.

Miss Candy said...

i agree with kitty kat.

Kitty Kat said...

BUT it stops farmers from using TOO MUCH meathane. also by factories I dont mean FACTORIES but some companies or something. it was on T.V.

SpUdArOoNy said...

wow havn't been on the blog in a while!!

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

yes, i agree, it is a good idea too. for factories and stuf they should put filter-like thing on the chimneies or whatever and then maybe breed the bugs in the filters to cut-down methane emissions. BUT as farmers make more money it dosnt really make much of a difference because they have enough money to pay for it. but i guess thats only the big companies.

Miss Candy said...

what companies use methane kitty kat? i can understand the farmers thing.

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

um, i just found out that landfills do to! all the more reason to recycle!

Kitty Kat said...

i cant remember. it does make a difference though because LOTS of farmers dont have much money other than the fact if they sold all their land they would have lots. thats SOMETIMES the case.
MAN its hot could it be due to SLIGHT GLOBAL WARMING? or is this just natural? well anyway! I'm really hot so im going for a swim! Cya soon!

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

i dont think so because global warming affects climate change not random temperature changes here and there.

Miss Candy said...

landfills release methane. miss pa**es's son fell over and grazed his knee while playing soccer on the hamilton boys high feild and he had to get this injection cause the school used to be a landfill! there's this park in flagstaff and you can see all this methane just rising from the ground! i reckon that global warming is just speeding up climate change till it's so cold the earths just going to freeze! got swimming training so cya later!

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

but miss candy, how can global WARMING be speeding up climate change till it's so COLD the earths just going to FREEZE??? hmm, does that really make sense? i think the earth is getting WARMER because of the greenhouse effect (making the earth warmer)which relates to climate change. why do you think the earth is getting colder miss candy?

Kitty Kat said...

I agree that Miss Candy's comment dosent make sense BUT the earth may get colder as the world goes warmer, colder, warmer, colder not to mention the fact that if sea levels do rise then the water will be colder due to melting of icebergs which (last time I checked) ARE COLD!
therfore the earth may get a bit colder.
I think tis is a good debate!

Kitty Kat said...

don't forget how skipper bob said the if the sea level DOES rise it is likly to only rise 35cm.

Skipper Bob said...

WOW thats creepy imagine giant fish or lions!!!!!!!

SpUdArOoNy said...

Wow you guys are really smart. i don't really understand all of this... but yerr... please tell me if your coming to talent quest finals on thursday?!?!? i knwo it will be great and it would be cool to see you guys there supporting!!

Catarara said...

Yes i'm going to come!! and i will bring the stuff that you want for your costume tomorw ok spuddy...
and this desighning of the house type thing is quite challenging...

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

but it is kind of like putting ice in water; it melts, and then warms pretty much. so i dont think it would make much difference...

SpUdArOoNy said...

ok catarara. can't wait to see you there!! oh thanks! my mum gave me some stuff... but ill have a look at your stuff aswell... yours might me better...
thanks! (:

Miss Candy said...

what i mean is it is going to get warmer then colder then warmer then colder then warmer until a few thousod years which then the core is going to cool down and the earth then is going to turn into something like mars!

Miss Candy said...

there is a sign to show that global warming is going from warm to colder then warm to cold. 2005 was the hottest year, right? so why isn't 2007 or 2006? it's getting colder! landfills produce methane after 20 years or so, not staight away. to build a place on a landfill you have to wait 20 years for it to make sure it won't explode with methane or something like that.

Miss Candy said...

global warming is naturall but slower. we speed it up. thanks to the pollution and stuff. thats why i said it speeding up the climate change thing.

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

yes, we are speeding up global warming and turning the "warmer, colder, warmer, colder" process up o knotch or two. miss candy, you cant really rely on the evidence of the hotest year to sasy global warming isnt real or whatever,because climate change works its stuff over like, a thousand years. so the temperature change your talking about would probably have to take place over at least ten years.

yeah, i think that makes sence, please correct me if im wrong :)

Kitty Kat said...

yes miss candy! two years wont make any difference. You need to AVERAGE your days out. also are these theing tha S.B told you because I was just thinking that you should think of your opinon if its bobs but I think its your just y ou've been influenced by bob thinking and talking.

MY oopinion is that Global Warming is a natural process of the earth warming. HOWEVER this process is getting faster and quicker due to human input of chemicals and gases such as Carbondioxide and Methane into the worlds atmasphere. THEREFORE we need to reduce oour emittions to that our children and grandchildren will have a healthy planet to live on.

Thats kinda what we've been saying but its just put down in my opinion...It Has Been Opinionated!! Mwhahahahahahaha

Kitty Kat said...

yes miss candy! two years wont make any difference. You need to AVERAGE your days out. also are these theing tha S.B told you because I was just thinking that you should think of your opinon if its bobs but I think its your just y ou've been influenced by bob thinking and talking.

MY oopinion is that Global Warming is a natural process of the earth warming. HOWEVER this process is getting faster and quicker due to human input of chemicals and gases such as Carbondioxide and Methane into the worlds atmasphere. THEREFORE we need to reduce oour emittions to that our children and grandchildren will have a healthy planet to live on.

Thats kinda what we've been saying but its just put down in my opinion...It Has Been Opinionated!! Mwhahahahahahaha

SpUdArOoNy said...

well im totally lost!
haha
im not even gunna bother getting in this conversation LOL.
pretty guttered bout the rats KK?
=[[[[
i am!!
i want one SOOO badly!!
hmm well im just gunna get me some toast!
LATERS

IM A ROOM5IAN said...

spud, are you getting one?

i agree with kitty kat. miss candy, i think you need to do some research on what global warming actually is and completely understnd until you form an opinion or make a decision.

Kitty Kat said...

I REALLY WANT ONE!!!!
I might be able to get one but it dependes on what my mum says (which is probably no) whaaaaaaaaa!

What Room5ian said.

MrWoody said...

spud - you mean "gutted"
i will try to get two rats for our classroom