Prehistoric insects, including insects, crabs, ammonites, and squid, were abundant Hundreds of millions of years ago, giant insects were everywhere. These insects, known as giant scorpions, were among the world’s oldest animals alive today. The age of giant insects during the Carboniferous period offers a fascinating glimpse into Earth’s prehistoric past, with high oxygen levels, evolving ecosystems, and changing climates creating an environment. There are around one million known species of insects found on every single continent except Antarctica. Some of the most horrifying prehistoric bugs include Meganeuropsis permiana, the largest of all the giant bugs of prehistory, and the distant relative of dragonflies we see today.
The largest of all the giant bugs of prehistory, Meganeuropsis permiana, was 300 million years ago similar to the modern day dragonfly. Insects similar to the modern day dragonfly had wingspans up to 65 centimeters (cm). Meganeura, a genus related to modern dragonflies, had a wing span up to 65 centimeters (cm). Young explorers can use a list of 25 prehistoric insects to hunt and learn interesting facts about prehistoric life.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Category:Prehistoric insect genera | A · Alexandrinia · Archiinocellia · Archimylacris · Auliepterix · Austropanorpa. B. Baissoptera · Baltimartyria · Bersta. C. Camptoneurites · Caputoraptor … | en.wikipedia.org |
| Category:Prehistoric Insects | Insect Wiki – Fandom | M · Megasecoptera · Melittosphex · Melittosphex burmensis. P. Palaeodictyoptera · Permotanyderus ableptus · Protanisoptera. X. | insects.fandom.com |
| 10 Prehistoric Bugs That Could Seriously Mess You Up | Epochs ago, giant scorpion monsters were everywhere. Here are a few of the most horrifying prehistoric bugs ever to crawl the earth. | listverse.com |
📹 10 Terrifying Prehistoric Insects You Didn’t Know About
Our today’s list features these kinds of monsters that would send creepy crawlers down your spine in no time! Brace yourselves, as …
What Are The Most Horrifying Prehistoric Bugs?
Discover the most horrifying prehistoric insects that crawled the earth, like Anomalocaris canadensis, a bizarre creature resembling a squid-shrimp hybrid, measuring three feet long and equipped with razor-sharp teeth. Fossils indicate its existence around 500 million years ago in ancient oceans. Other fearsome insects included the gigantic dragonflies, some the size of eagles, and even cat-sized scorpions. Allosaurus, a large bipedal predator, had a skull filled with sharp, serrated teeth and grew up to 12 meters long, dominating its environment.
The diversity of these ancient bugs ranges from acid-spraying ants to massive arachnids, often driving modern observers to dread. Researcher Jon Harrison from Arizona State University delves into why these giant insects evolved and eventually disappeared. Fossils suggest insects first appeared 407 to 396 million years ago, including Devonian examples like Rhyniognatha hirsti. Among the largest prehistoric bugs, Meganeuropsis permiana, a distant relative of today’s dragonflies, also stands out.
As we explore these ancient critters, we meet the craziest-looking and biggest insects to have ever existed, leaving modern bugs to seem quite tame in comparison. Don't forget the titanic ants, Titanomyrma, as they add to the chilling legacy of prehistoric life.
What Was The First Ever Bug On Earth?
The oldest confirmed insect fossil is a wingless, silverfish-like creature dating back about 385 million years, with a significant abundance of insect fossils appearing around 60 million years later during the Pennsylvanian period. The earliest insect fossils are estimated to be about 400 million years old, but genetic evidence suggests that insects evolved earlier. The oldest confirmed insect, Rhyniognatha hirsti, lived approximately 410 million years ago, sparking debate about its classification as either a centipede or an insect.
Recent studies propose that myriapods were the earliest land-dwelling animals. The evolution of wings marked a crucial turning point, allowing ancient insects to become airborne, contributing significantly to their evolutionary success.
Scientists estimate that the first insects appeared around 480 million years ago, coinciding with the emergence of the earliest land plants. Insects and plants played vital roles in shaping early terrestrial ecosystems, notably with the advent of insect flight around 400 million years ago. Among the oldest living insects are grasshoppers, part of the Orthoptera group, which have existed for approximately 65 million years.
Interestingly, the term "computer bug" originated from an actual moth trapped in the Harvard Mark II computer, reported by computer scientist Grace Hopper on September 9, 1947. This incident marked the first documented computer bug. Overall, genetic analyses reveal a timeline suggesting that insects first evolved about 479 million years ago, preceding the establishment of stable terrestrial environments and the first land plants.
Are Cockroaches Older Than Dinosaurs?
Cockroaches are among Earth’s most ancient and resilient insects, with fossil evidence tracing their existence back approximately 350 million years. This timeline places them well before the first known dinosaurs, which appeared around 230 million years ago. While dinosaurs thrived during the Mesozoic Era and became extinct about 65 million years ago, cockroaches have persisted with remarkable stability and minimal morphological changes, continuing to thrive in the present day.
Recent discoveries have further highlighted the longevity of cockroaches. Two new species were identified in amber, preserved from around 99 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period—a time when dinosaurs dominated the Earth. These fossils are significant as they represent the oldest known cave-adapted creatures, indicating that cockroaches inhabited subterranean environments long before the end of the Cretaceous.
Molecular sequencing studies estimate that the common ancestor of modern cockroaches dates back to approximately 235 million years ago. This suggests that the cockroach lineage is not only ancient but also diverse, having evolved and adapted through various geological periods. However, some fossil records indicate that the oldest known cockroaches are between 125 to 140 million years old, which may reflect different evolutionary branches within the group.
Cockroaches, along with other ancient organisms like horseshoe crabs, millipedes, and silverfish, have demonstrated exceptional evolutionary stability. Their ability to adapt to a wide range of environments, including caves, underscores their status as some of nature’s most perfect and enduring creations. Unlike humans, who have existed for roughly 200, 000 years, cockroaches boast an extensive evolutionary history spanning hundreds of millions of years. This longevity is a testament to their resilience, allowing them to survive multiple mass extinctions and continue to prosper across diverse habitats.
Overall, cockroaches exemplify evolutionary success, maintaining their presence on Earth through drastic environmental changes and the rise and fall of dominant species like the dinosaurs. Their enduring existence highlights their unparalleled adaptability and the effectiveness of their biological design.
When Did Giant Insects Get Going?
During the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, over 300 million years ago, giant insects thrived alongside expansive forests and abundant flora that released high levels of oxygen. Fossil evidence reveals that the genus Meganeura Monyi, a giant dragonfly, boasted wingspans of up to 28 inches and preyed on smaller insects. This era saw the dominance of large dragonfly-like insects, known as griffinflies, with impressive wingspans reaching nearly 71 centimeters.
The Carboniferous period, occurring between 359 and 299 million years ago, was characterized by lush lowland swamp forests, which led to increased atmospheric oxygen, allowing these colossal creatures to flourish.
However, the decline in oxygen levels and the emergence of birds contributed to the extinction of these giant insects. The Paleozoic era, spanning from 542 to 250 million years ago, marked a time when prehistoric insects reached monumental sizes before the evolution of dinosaurs. The fossil record indicates that species like giant dragonflies and enormous cockroaches were prevalent during this time.
Ultimately, the significant environmental changes and the development of new insect families during the Carboniferous period played a crucial role in shaping the insect world, paving the way for the smaller, more diverse insects we see today. In summary, giant insects existed due to favorable conditions, before gradually disappearing as the environment evolved.
Did Insects Really Exist 300 Million Years Ago?
Giant insects, once common on Earth around 300 million years ago, existed far larger than their modern relatives, although they were not as gigantic as dump trucks. Fossil evidence reveals the existence of these ancient giants, sparking curiosity in researchers like Jon Harrison, a professor of biology at Arizona State University. He investigates the reasons behind their evolution and subsequent extinction, focusing particularly on their respiratory systems.
During the Carboniferous and early Permian periods, remarkable species such as the griffinfly (Meganeura) and Arthropleura populated the skies and earth, with wingspans and sizes significantly exceeding modern insects.
The evolutionary history of insects, which first appeared about 480 million years ago, is studied through various scientific disciplines, including molecular biology, paleontology, and bioinformatics. The atmosphere at the time contained higher oxygen levels—between 31 to 35 percent—which may have allowed insects to grow substantially larger than those we see today. These massive insects dominated the prehistoric landscape, with predator dragonflies resembling modern seagulls flying through ancient swamps.
Meganeuropsis permiana, living around 298 million years ago, exemplifies this remarkable size, being the largest of prehistory's giant insects. The Paleozoic era, particularly the Carboniferous period, witnessed the zenith of insect size before the evolution of dinosaurs. Ultimately, the intriguing questions of why these insects thrived in their time and how they adapted to their environments are key areas of research, shedding light on the mysteries of these colossal prehistoric creatures.
What Insects Are Extinct?
Since the 1500s, numerous insect species have become extinct, primarily due to pesticides, fertilizers, and invasive species. Notably, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) documented 58 extinct insect species as of July 2016, along with 46 possibly extinct and one "extinct in the wild." Examples include the Xerces blue butterfly, last seen near San Francisco, and the Atossa fritillary butterfly, last spotted in 1960. Insects perform vital roles in ecosystems, from pollination to maintaining natural balance; their decline severely impacts human survival and environmental health.
Alarmingly, many species are experiencing population drops at unprecedented rates, with over 40 species in the U. S. declining and a third found to be endangered. The urgency for action to conserve these important creatures cannot be understated—while we focus on preserving existing species, it is crucial to recognize and remember those already lost, such as various caddisfly species. This issue highlights a larger crisis of biodiversity loss due to human activity, suggesting that the extinction of even the tiniest insects poses threats to broader ecological stability.
Are Giant Insects Still Alive?
There are no living giant insects or fossils of their tracheae, compelling biologists to study related modern insects to test the oxygen pulse hypothesis—the idea that high atmospheric oxygen enabled insects to grow larger. Jon Harrison, a physiologist and biology professor at Arizona State University, is fascinated by ancient giant insects and investigates why they evolved and subsequently disappeared, likely due to their breathing mechanisms.
While large insects still exist in intertropical regions, such as beetles over 18 cm long, prehistoric giants like Meganeuropsis permiana, a griffinfly of the extinct Meganisoptera order, had wingspans far exceeding those of today’s largest insects like the atlas moth.
In the Triassic period, insects were larger than in the Jurassic, following the appearance of pterosaurs. However, a 20-million-year gap in the insect fossil record and a concurrent drop in oxygen levels make it difficult to determine when and why insect sizes decreased.
Today, over a million insect species live, including sizeable ones like stick insects and the atlas moth, but none reach the immense sizes of their ancient counterparts. Meganeurids had the largest wingspans known, yet their bodies were lighter than some modern Coleoptera. Giant insects thrived when Earth’s atmosphere had higher oxygen levels, but after the evolution of birds about 150 million years ago, insects became smaller despite rising oxygen levels.
Structural limitations in insects' respiratory systems, specifically their tracheae, prevent them from attaining the massive sizes seen in the past. Additionally, studies have revealed that species once thought extinct, such as the Lord Howe Island stick insect (Dryococelus australis), are still alive. Overall, while millions of insect species exist today, truly giant insects no longer roam the earth due to evolutionary pressures and physiological constraints that limit their size.
What Was The First Bug On Earth?
The oldest confirmed insect fossil belongs to a wingless, silverfish-like creature, dating back approximately 385 million years. Insect fossils became plentiful around 60 million years later, during the Pennsylvanian era. Insects are believed to have originated on Earth around 480 million years ago, coinciding with the emergence of terrestrial plants. The scarab beetle is thought to be one of the earliest insects, existing around 2, 000 years ago.
Despite earlier fossil evidence being about 400 million years old, recent studies suggest that insects evolved simultaneously with land plants. Among the oldest insect types are millipedes, existing for around 400 million years and recognized as primitive insects. The evolution of wings allowed ancient insects to fly, marking a significant milestone in their successful adaptation. Fossil evidence points to early winged insects, resembling dragonflies and grasshoppers, appearing around 400 million years ago as forests developed.
Grasshoppers, part of the Orthoptera group, have existed for about 65 million years and are among the oldest living insect species. Insects were the pioneers of flight, evolving wings roughly 175 million years before pterosaurs. The first insect fossils, resembling modern springtails, are recorded from the Devonian period. A new timeline has revealed that insects likely emerged about 479 million years ago, indicating their evolution occurred earlier than previously believed, coinciding with the first stable terrestrial environments and land plants. The identity of the oldest insect fossil, Rhyniognatha hirsti, estimated at 400 million years, remains contested, highlighting the dynamic history and diversity of insects influenced by changing global climates.
📹 Prehistoric Bug Extravaganza
Prehistoric Bugs; impressive, long lasting, and forgotten. Let’s give extinct bugs some love at a lightning fast speed, where I try to …
Yeah I’m seconds in and I’m not sure if I can watch the whole thing. I’m definitely not a fan of bugs but I don’t run screaming. I certainly don’t want them on me. I’m glad I don’t live in Australia. They got some huge creatures there that are quite frightening. Ahhhh! It REALLY creeps me out seeing spiders with all their babies on their backs.
During much of the Carboniferous Period, there was twice as much oxygen in the atmosphere as today. Now, we have about 21 % oxygen, during the Carboniferous, it reached 35 %. The carbon dioxide content was 16 times greater at the start of the period and still 4 times greater at the end of the period than today. The partial pressures of the added oxygen and carbon dioxide, added to the partial pressure of the Nitrogen ( which remained the same ) meant that air pressure at sea level was between 3 to 5 times greater than today. The extra oxygen, the high humidity and dense atmosphere meant that things grew and lived and died much faster than today. Fires could happen spontaneously, let alone all the additional lightning and violent weather. Above the low-lying swamp forests, all the resulting fires created a perpetual smog haze of hydrocarbons. The sky would rarely have been blue. Instead, it was a tawny, amber-grey colour. The oxygen enabled arthropods to grow much, much larger. It would also be easier for the dragonflies and other winged and gliding creatures to fly and stay aloft. Humans could not live in such a world. The extra oxygen and denser atmosphere would have been dangerous. We would notice the affects almost immediately and we would be dead within days or weeks. All these terrestrial creatures and the land plans must have relied on elaborate respiratory and metabolic systems with very strong antioxidant chemistry just to resist the lethal oxygen levels. During most of the period, volcanoes kept pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the plant life kept churning out oxygen and sequestering the carbon, which accumulated in the coal measures.
Next show us the creatures in post atomic bomb era movies, with huge ants, spiders etc. The Japanese created Godzilla to cope with the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the allied forces. We created our own behavioural excuses in those great flix! My father was a major fan of those movies and brought me along for the show. He didn’t like going to movies alone. Converted me into a sci-fi though … 🇨🇦🖖🏻🇨🇦
about double the oxygen supply and you have it. We would need an adjustment period to survive without oxygen toxicity. We would live better and shorter lives. Lower disease rates and higher levels of physicality. After the Carboniferous ice age a few forests survived into the early Permian a few pockets remained till the Middle Permian.
I stopped perusal at 2:49-2:52 because that is misinformation. Insects breathe through a network of air filled tubes that deliver oxygen directly to the cells. These tracheal tubes, especially in the leg, take up more room in larger beetles. More than 300 million years ago, there was 31 to 35 percent oxygen in the air. That means that the respiratory systems of the insects could be smaller and still deliver enough oxygen to meet their demands, allowing the creatures to grow much larger. There are reasons for their disappearances and diet is not it. There are two main reasons as to why they have disappeared. The most important is that our atmosphere has changed. Millions of years ago, the air surrounding our planet was warmer, moister and contained more oxygen. During the Carboniferous and Permian periods, Earth’s air contained 31-35% oxygen, as compared to just 21% oxygen in the air today. Oxygen levels are especially important for insects because they don’t have lungs. Instead, they rely on air flowing through a series of openings across their bodies called spiracles, which connect via tiny tubes to the tissues that need oxygen. The second is the dinosaurs helped clean out the giant insects As ancient dinosaurs evolved the ability to fly, eventually becoming modern birds, they put a cap on insect size through predation and competition. The earliest known bird – Archaeopteryx – appeared about 150 million years ago. Birds proved to be faster and more agile than the giant insects.
as a fellow bug enthusiast, very pleased to see the love for post-cambrian bugs. I usually don’t like to define “bugs” as arthropods because the category excludes non-shelled softies like snails and worms (iconic bugs fr!) but i realized that in a prehistoric sense that definition totally makes sense, especially during the cambrian era! thanks for the lovely article on bugs !!!
I LOVE BUGS! I love bugs so much its rediculous, I could talk all day about them, and Ive had several as pets. My favorites are Jumping Spiders, they have so much personality! Scientists have even trained them to be able to study the hydrologics of their legs, they are incredible. They also make the best pets, they are so cute. ❤
I like this article, prehistoric arthropods should get more attention. Great job featuring some less familiar faces like manipulator and the hell ants! However, there are two minor mistakes here. First, nektaspids are not trilobites, but are a closely related group. Second, the higher oxygen as a source of arthropod gigantism is not really true, since many of these giant arthropods lived both before and after the carboniferous oxygen spike. It likely had more to do with the lack of competition from vertebrates for many niches. And one more thing though, I really think you kind of undersell the uniqueness of post paleozoic arthropods. Mesozoic had a lot of stuff that is very different from today. Like kalligrammatids, a group of pollinating neuropterans with a proboscis. This is very significant, since all modern neuropterans have chewing jaws and most are carnivorous. Also there are the strashilids, a genus of aquatic flies with a highly divergent anatomy from any modern group.
It’s so refreshing to see bugs getting some much-needed love. I’ve recently begun noticing more and more of the insects around me. I’ve had dragonflies mating outside my window, watched butterflies dancing in the sun, and sat perusal Attenborough with a jumping spider sitting on my arm. Keep the cool bug articles coming, my friend
as someone who studies entomology (and arachnids and sometimes myriapods) I’m so happy someone made a article on how absolutely magnificent bugs were. i would say bugs rule this planet even today, just by how incredibly important they are. id say that they are the single most important groups of animals, so much of life on earth depends on these guys and if they were to die put we would all be pretty much doomed
if we made an experiment where we kept bugs in a oxygen-rich enviroment, would they eventually grow larger and larger? im talking about decades and generations of bugs living in a greenhouse saturated with oxygen. would the first generations die from too much oxygen? what if we gradually increased the oxygen levels slightly with each generarion? i’ve seen a project where people are domesticating foxes by selectively breeding the most docile ones and its working pretty well after only a couple decades. i’d love to see one of those griffin flies. maybe we can go even bigger? how about a bee with a 5 meter wingspan, just an enormous bee where you can see every single body part working as they suck on buckets of nectar. imagine the sound. what would they smell like? what do insects smell like? what sounds do they make other than wings flapping? could we hear a 10 kilogram bee’s breath and heartbeat? what would they taste like? giant insects could easily replace meat as they breed like crazy. or would they breed less because of their size?
Make a article about history of “cryptids” that turned out to be real, whether literally or misidentified. I’m thinking things like Platypus, Jackalopes, Komodo Dragons, things that were described and so outlandish that people immediately second guessed the validity of the claims. You would talk about the animal biology/history of course and the controversies surrounding the identification in popular culture and the scientific fields. It could even be like a shorts miniseries, talking about each animal for a small amount of time. Titles could be like “Bewildering Beasts” or “Almost Fantasy” then the name of the animal you’re talking about. Love website Budget, you’re killin it.
You’ve recently become one of my favorite Youtubers since I stumbled upon you in my recommendations one night last week, I’ve gone on to binge all of your articles and I can’t get enough! Your editing style and comedic timing has progressed astoundingly throughout your articles and I can tell how much time and work you’ve put into each and every single one. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future and I can’t wait to be able to say I was here at 100k+ subs when soon you reach the millions of subs that you deserve!
I really like your website, Budget Museum. While I like in depth and super serious paleo websites I feel like yours is really a breath of fresh air, the jokes you throw in are pretty good too. I can tell you have real passion in what you do and that’s the biggest seller for me for yt websites. Thank you.
I feel like it’s so hard to nail down what a bug is because it’s so informal. Like for the most part bugs are just arthropods but even then I don’t think most people would say crabs are bugs, and while hallucigenia might not be considered a bug I feel like the extant onycophorans, velvet worms, totally are bugs
Finally, someone who agrees bugs are cool. They may not always be cute and some have creepy habits like parasitic wasps but they are always cool and fascinating animals who are underappreciated as important parts of our ecosystem. I dislike mosquitos as much anyone but everytime I see someone say without an ounce of irony “We should kill off all mosquitos!” I shake my head. They have no idea how bad off the food chain would be without them.
Thanks Buddy, great vid! I think one of the lesser mentioned topics that deserves an in-depth vid, is how “bugs” developed the most impressive feature in all of the animal kingdom… FLIGHT! The ability to fly, is so massively impressive that I truly wonder how evolution in the animal kingdom determined the rationale for endowing it on any creature. Thanks again!
I am in love with this article. My friend was laughing at me while we watched this because I kept clapping and cheering when I heard a fact I knew or saw a bug I liked. Bugs incite a childlike wonder and excitement in me. I think someone should mad science up a Carboniferous Park. This could not possibly go wrong.
Hey man, can you make Evolution articles about insects in the fashion of Moth-light media? Seems shocking that termites, cocroaches and mantis came from the same ancestor, unlike ants, I’d like to see how wasps and bees became a thing, and flies and mosquitoes. Meanwhile the water scorpion has nothing to do with the real scorpion. Intriguing
The cultural definition of “bug” is synonymous with “insect”. Since insects are different than arachnids, spiders aren’t bugs. “Arthropod”, however, DOES include both insects and arachnids because they both have an exoskeleton. This group also includes crustaceans like crabs and lobsters, meaning they are distant aquatic relatives of spiders and scorpions. Great article! 👍🏻
I always even as a kid I criticized creationism on the basis of there being hundreds of millions of years of life and evolution prior to humanity. I’ve always been fascinated by early life on Earth. It would be so cool and crazy to step into a time machine and see what earth looked like half a billion years ago.
I’m a bit scared of some bugs, I LOVE THEM STILL!! They are such a cool unique group of animals and some of them LOOK SO SILLY!! I love the game Grounded becuase of it (it’s a game where you play as a person whose been shrunken to survive in a world with giant insects), but I’d like to make some kind of special evo or maybe even Carboniferous era inspired survival game where you have to survive in the Carboniferous and stuff.. Idk yet since idk how to code or make games so I’d probably not be able to, but I plan on learning hopefully in the future 🙂
omg please make another article about bugs, i love bugs and i’m sad they don’t get as much appreciation as they should. although i understand if they make you feel uncomfortable or gross you out, but bugs are a lot cooler than you might think. i’m really sad that there are fewer bugs than before because there are less habitable places for them, i think they need more attention so that we can stop extinction from happening. side note: this article is very helpfull because i am writing a world with bugs but if they evolved to be smarter and bigger, with bigger societies, cities, and even wars.
I am an avid fly fisherman, and like to think I’m pretty good at it. The best fly anglers know bugs. Mostly aquatic, but also well versed in Terrestrials, Big Trout love ‘em’ big or ultra tiny. Small mammals amphibians and birds are often on the menu as well. I love Bugs as well, and spend countless hours trying to tie the artificial versions using fur, hair, feathers, and anything else I can use to get a fish in the net. I Loved the article, this was educational for me and you got a new subscriber. 😂💯
Bro, I had an activity way back in highschool. It was a warm up exercise before a class recitation. My teacher told us to name an animal that starts with A. When it was my turn I said “Ant”. My teacher shook her head and told me. “No, no. That’s a bug, not an animal.” For some reason, some people in the class collectively agreed. I just stared at her in disbelief.
Im currently working on a pulp-adventure novel, about a man who’s plane crashes through a volcanic flue into a subterranean cave system with an atmosphere similar to the carboniferous period. It’s essentially an imagining of what life would be like if insects had been the doninant lifeform to evolve instead of mammals. Needless to say, this article is integral to my studies.
Anomalacaris was first named “weird shrimp” because the initial fossils were found of their mouth pieces, which the namer thought resembled and was a kind of shrimp. Fossils later showed that late those “shrimp” they found were just a small part of a bigger creature. (Or so say some articles, who knows).
Anomalocaris was actually a grazer. It’s a common misconception that they were the apex predator of the Cambrian. There is research done to show that they simply lacked the body parts necessary to hunt prey like trilobites. At most they ate jellyfish and soft worms but it’s equally as likely that they ate plankton instead!
Entomologists and exotic invertebrate aficionados would probably have a field day if they hypothetically travel back in time during the Carboniferous. And I agree that prehistoric bugs aren’t well represented that much in popular media, although atleast they were given some screentime in Walking with Monsters, one episode of Prehistoric Park, and Primeval. I believe the giant ants in episode 1 of Walking with Beasts are Titanomyrma as well.
In fact, eurypterids may still exist. My son and I saw a ridiculously similar creature, black in color, about 20 inches long, on the beach at Boquerón in Puerto Rico 30 years ago. He got out of the water, walked towards the beach and when he saw us he ran very fast to hide under a dry palm trunk that was lying on the shore. We moved the trunk around a bit to investigate. But he immediately ran back into the water and we lost him. My son and I always remember this, and we have investigated even by asking a biologist. We have tried to get a logical explanation for the phenomenon, but no one has been able to explain it. They look at us with doubt. We know is extremely impossible but we both saw it. We know tropical fauna very well, appreciating and studying it is our hobby. We’re sure that wasn’t a shrimp or a lobster, perhaps a mutation, might be. But it didn’t move like any of these. Rather, he walked like a scorpion does, on the sand. The description is absolutely of a creature that matches the characteristics of Eurypterids. It might be cool if somebody decide to scientifically corroborate this. Perhaps what we saw is a non registered species. Now talking about another topic: Can you imagine a roasted anomalocaris tail salad with garlic butter, with congri rice and some plantains on the side?
I personally like to call all arthropods “bugs” in a casual day to day sense, conversation with friends and such, and just worry about cladistics when im trying to be educational or literal. Like if I say “I love bugs like isopods, tarantulas, and beetles” and my bug-hating friends are like “but isopods and spiders aren’t bugs” I groan. I side with the little kids I teach who call snails and worms bugs cuz im like you know what kid? They bugs. Bugs with a capital B and bugs with a lower case b. Bugs v true Bugs. I love da bugs. I love da shrimp and isopods and jumping spiders and worms and caterpillars. Dey bugs
I used to love bugs would walk around with them on my hands and etc. At some age it completely switched to a phobia or hatred, if I’m about to sleep and I see a big in my room, I have to kill it or I can’t sleep or be in the room. I don’t know what did that but I keep trying to get better with the phobia by perusal things like these
honestly, as somebody who loves to look at bugs only when they’re dead or trapped behind glass, i wouldn’t mind bigger bugs!! bigger spiders and isopods n stuff look much less threatening to me than some cutie like ladybug, since the scariest bugs’ trait is that they’re so small i can’t keep track of them and they can hide literally anywhere 😱