The Scorpion's Ancestors Were Taller Than Adult Men – What Did They Go Through?

Are scorpions good for you or poisonous? It has always been difficult to define.

Throughout history, we often describe bad-hearted people as 'scorpion people,' which shows that scorpions are not good in our eyes because they are poisonous and can sting people, however, in China, where traditional Chinese medicine and cuisine are valued, scorpions can be used to make wine, for medicinal purposes, and even fried and eaten as a delicacy, considered a tonic.

Obviously, even the most poisonous things can be just food in people's eyes.

However, heaven has a way of reversing things, in ancient times, scorpions would eat creatures as big as humans,

Today, let's talk about the scorpions' ancestors, the sea scorpion,

The sea scorpion is currently the largest known arthropod, with a body size that is larger than an adult man,

A few years ago, paleontologist Markus Poschmann discovered a scorpion claw fossil 46 centimeters long in a quarry in Germany, and after research, he believed that this fossil may have come from the sea scorpion,

The sea scorpion is not only the ancestor of modern scorpions but also possibly the ancestor of all arachnids, including spiders and other eight-legged arthropods,

By calculating the ratio of its body parts, it was found that this scorpion's length should be between 2.33 and 2.59 meters, which is taller than Yao Ming, who is 2.26 meters tall,

The giant sea scorpion was also one of the most ferocious creatures on Earth,

At that time, the sea scorpion grew up without any predators, it occupied the top of the food chain,

Its chelicerae (two large claws) evolved into a pair of large predatory weapons, when other sea scorpions lived together, they would wait, as soon as other animals approached, they would pounce forward, grab them, and then tear the prey into pieces to eat,

They not only consumed large fish but also killed each other for food, resources, prey, and mates, and they would eat each other,

Fortunately, the sea scorpion has gone extinct,

You have to go back to about 40 million years ago, to the Paleozoic era of the Devonian period (4.16 billion – 3.59 billion years ago), to see such creatures,

During this period, there were such huge creatures all over the land and sea, currently we have discovered 2-meter-long millepeds and 75-centimeter-winged dragonflies,

Regarding how the giant sea scorpion became so large, paleontologists have different opinions,

We know that the oxygen content in the atmosphere during the Devonian period was high, 35%, while today it is only 21%. Some paleontologists believe that the high oxygen content is the main cause of animal gigantism,

But other scientists have questioned this, the sea scorpion mainly lived in the water, the oxygen content in the air had little effect on it, they believed that there must be other mechanisms that caused its rapid growth,

Perhaps because the ocean at that time, the sea scorpion lacked predators, which led to unrestrained growth;

Perhaps the buoyancy of the water could support the huge body, so that the sea scorpion became huge;

Or perhaps driven by the needs of the environment, in order to pierce the armor of constantly evolving fish, the sea scorpion's claws and body had to evolve into huge sizes.

Finally

Regardless of how the sea scorpion became so large, scientists generally believe that the sea scorpion's opponents were large fish with strong jaws and teeth.

These fish forced most sea scorpions to go on land, and on land they evolved into smaller sizes, and the remaining fossils remind people that they once ruled the earth.