A fossil of a 430-million year old aquatic scorpion has helped scientists better understand how the species moved from sea onto land.
The species, which originated in the Bruce Peninsula, is not only the oldest known scorpion in North America but also one of the oldest in the world.
The findings, co-authored by the ROM's Janet Waddington, David Rudkin and the Museum für Naturkunde's Jason Dunlop, were published Tuesday in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
"This extraordinary find contributes to our understanding of how scorpions moved from the sea onto land," Waddington said in a news release.
The species ranged in size from about 29 to 165 mm long and its legs were quite similar to that of the modern scorpion except its feet were shorter. Since it had shorter feet, it allowed itself to bear its own weight without the buoyancy of water.
Fossils of other animals that lived solely in the sea indicate that these scorpions lived most of their life under water but may have had brief exposure to air.
The fossils were sent to the ROM in multiple ways; one young fossil hunter found one in a quarry spoil heap, others were spotted by quarry workers and several others were discovered in quarried stone delivered to landscaping projects far from the origin.
"It is the enthusiasm and generosity of amateur fossil collectors that allow us to study and publish these findings, which are vital to the ROM's collections and research."
