from Caledonian Mercury, 20 April 2010
Gigantic scorpions used to roam Fife, according to a unique fossil find by scientists. Footprints preserved in a rock show that huge six-legged, sharp-tailed monsters lumbered across the swamps of the kingdom some 330 million years ago.
The creatures, which predated dinosaurs by millions of years, were about two metres long and one metre wide. That’s about the size of a large dining room table - and somewhat more threatening.
The discovery of the distinctive trail of one of the beasts in a slab of sandstone in north east Fife has thrilled geologists. They say it is the largest known track of any invertebrate animal, and is hence globally significant.
The find is “unique and internationally important”, says the government’s conservation agency, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). It is unveiling the discovery to the media today, though keeping its exact location secret to prevent it from being damaged by casual visitors.
“This is a fossil which is important to Fife, to Scotland and on a global scale,” says SNH’s geologist, Colin MacFadyen. “Helping to conserve this important find is vital for our understanding of this period in evolution.”
The track shows three rows of crescent-shaped footprints on each side of a central groove, made by the scorpion’s tail as it crawled across wet sand. The groove suggests, scientists say, that it was moving on land, providing vital new evidence that it could survive out of water.
Known as a Hibbertopterus, the animal is related to modern day water scorpions and horseshoe crabs. From the artist’s impression provided by SNH, it looks like it could have starred in a Hollywood horror movie about monsters from the deep.
The fossilised track was discovered by a palaeontologist from the University of Sheffield, Dr Martin Whyte, on a walk in 2005. But it has not been advertised until now, while it was studied and funding was found for its preservation.
Unfortunately the scorpion track is very vulnerable to erosion, and it is too large and expensive to move. So scientists have decided to make a mould instead, and put that on display to the public at the Kinburn museum in St Andrews, and elsewhere.
SNH has given Geoheritage Fife, a group at St Andrews University that promotes the area’s geological history, £5,000 towards the work. “The track is in a precarious situation, having been exposed for years to weathering,” says the group’s Richard Batchelor.
“The rock in which it occurs is in danger of falling off altogether. Moulding it in silicone rubber and making copies for educational and research purposes means that we can still see and research this huge creature’s tracks in years to come.”
The prospect of giant scorpions on the doorstep should not, however, keep nervous Fifers awake at night. Even if the beasts had coexisted with humans, scientists point out that they wouldn’t really have been very scary because they were so slow-moving.
Having had experience of doing silicone rubber moulding of fossil footprints myself, it is no simple undertaking - especially subjected to the vagories of the Scottish climate. Hats off to Dave Williams of GeoEd who moulded, and is casting the piece! I Can't wait to see the final piece.
Posted by: Neil Clark | 23 April 2010 at 02:37 PM