Prehistoric Worlds Prehistoric Pittsford
The Eurypterids
The eurypterids were mostly aquatic arthropods commonly having a pair of swimming and digging appendages (see illustrations) and an anterior pair of food-gathering pincers, usually small, termed chelicerae. See illustration at right.
Accompanying illustrations in the exhibit, Prehistoric Pittsford, show the morphological features of two common eurypterid forms ( Hughmilleria and Eurypterus . Note the head region having a carapace with two eyes present. Often, the eyes are located somewhat centrally as in Eurypterus ; sometimes marginally as in Hughmilleria . Behind the head region are several body segments (tergites) ending in a spiked 'tail', the telson. Many other features are noted in the drawings EURYPTERID STRUCTURE
Two distinctly different eurypterids were common during Silurian time as represented by the fossils found in the rocks of the Lower Salina Group of western New York. Both are described in the exhibit "Prehistorid Pittsford." The slender Hughmilleria socialis Sarle is the most common form found in the Pittsford Member and may have been actively swimming in nearby rivers. | |
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