Maybe all those cheesy 50′s monster movies were right:
The fossil, found in a 390-million-year-old rock, suggests that spiders, insects, crabs and similar creatures were much larger in the past than previously thought, the researchers said.
“This is an amazing discovery. We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies, but we never realized, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were,” said co-author Dr. Simon Braddy from the University of Bristol.
Some geologists believe that the giant arthropod evolved due to high oxygen levels, while others argue that they evolved in an “arms race” alongside their prey, the early armoured fish.
Cool. Hat tip to Slashdot. ..bruce w..
