\u201cSo we can safely say it\u2019s extremely large and there\u2019s no other scorpion in the fossil record that has claws anywhere near that size,\u201d declared the study\u2019s lead author Dr. Richard Howard of the Natural History Museum in London, the BBC reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Dubbed Praearcturus, this colossal arthropod scuttled across what is now England and Wales during the Devonian period circa 415 million years ago.<\/p>\n The species measured over 3 feet long with six-inch pincers, meaning its appendages were the same size as the bodies of the largest scorpions living today.<\/p>\n Despite its hulking proportions, this sting king took a long time to identify. The fossils were first discovered in Herefordshire in the 1870s, when they were initially thought to belong to a type of giant crustacean such as a woodlouse due to the lack of a tail or other identifying feature.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until 150 years later that researchers were able to put together the pieces. Howard said they were able to glean the ID through modern techniques like CT scans and 3D modeling as well as better-preserved fossils, most notably a sternum that matched remains found in Canada that were described in 2015.<\/p>\n Dr. Russell Garwood, a paleontologist at The University of Manchester, explained, \u201cby bringing together material from several collections and using cutting edge imaging techniques, we\u2019ve been able to build a clearer picture of the animal than was previously possible, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Howard found the critter\u2019s size unique given that it lived around 50 million years earlier than the \u201cgiant millipedes or dragonfly-like insects\u201d of the Carboniferous period, when Earth had developed swamps, jungles and other advanced terrestrial habitats.<\/p>\n \u201cConfirming that this animal is a scorpion fundamentally changes our understanding of how and when these creatures evolved to such extraordinary sizes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n One theory is that the animal grew huge because it faced little competition in its environment, allowing it to dominate the ecosystem in a manner that wouldn\u2019t be possible later on<\/p>\n![\"Giant](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/life-reconstruction-praearcturus-gigas-franz-129994533.jpg\")
An artist\u2019s reconstruction of Praearcturus. Franz Anthony<\/p>\n![\"Scorpion](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/www-eurekalert-org-multimedia-1134198-129994469.jpg\")
\u201cConfirming that this animal is a scorpion fundamentally changes our understanding of how and when these creatures evolved to such extraordinary sizes,\u201d said Howard. Natural History Museum\/University of Manchester<\/p>\n