Parioscorpio

Parioscorpio
Temporal range: Silurian, (Telychian) 437.5–436.5 Ma
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Reconstruction as a non-scorpion, enigmatic arthropod
Fossil specimen of Parioscorpio venator
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Genus: †Parioscorpio
Wendruff et al, 2020
Type species
†Parioscorpio venator
Wendruff et al, 2020

Parioscorpio is an extinct genus of arthropod containing the species P. venator known from the Silurian-aged Waukesha Biota of the Brandon Bridge Formation near Waukesha, Wisconsin. This animal has gone through a confusing taxonomic history, being called an arachnid, crustacean, and an artiopodan arthropod at various points.[1] [2] [3] This animal is one of the more famous fossil finds from Wisconsin, due to the media coverage it received based on its original description in 2020 as a basal scorpion.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Mikulic, Donald G.; Briggs, Derek E. G.; Kluessendorf, Joanne (1985). "A Silurian Soft-Bodied Biota". Science. 228 (4700): 715–717. Bibcode:1985Sci...228..715M. doi:10.1126/science.228.4700.715. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1694543. PMID 17841003. S2CID 36327898.
  2. ^ Braddy, S.J.; Dunlop, J.A. (2021). "A sting in the tale of Parioscorpio venator from the Silurian of Wisconsin: is it a cheloniellid arthropod?". Lethaia. 54 (1): 1–7. Bibcode:2021Letha..54..603B. doi:10.1111/let.12457. S2CID 245285654.
  3. ^ Wendruff, Andrew J.; Babcock, Loren E.; Wirkner, Christian S.; Kluessendorf, Joanne; Mikulic, Donald G. (December 2020). "A Silurian ancestral scorpion with fossilised internal anatomy illustrating a pathway to arachnid terrestrialisation". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 14. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10...14W. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-56010-z. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6965631. PMID 31949185.
  4. ^ "This is the oldest scorpion known to science". www.science.org. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  5. ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Wu, Katherine J. "World's Oldest Scorpions May Have Moved From Sea to Land 437 Million Years Ago". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  6. ^ Lazaro, Enrico de (2020-01-20). "Fossils of Earliest Known Scorpion Discovered | Sci.News". Sci.News: Breaking Science News. Retrieved 2023-01-01.