Pterygotus (Kaiyodo DinoTales Series 7)
The Pterygotus was for a while the largest eurypterid ever (a while ago some paleontologists found the remains of a particularly large Jaekelopterus) Still, and although other sea scorpions measured 20 cm, the Pterygotus was obscenely large (measuring up to 2.3m!) It lived during the Silurian and the Devonian. There are several known species, but this one reminded me of P. rhenaniae due to the girth of the body.
This must have been a notorious predator, so the medium fishes were no match for this horror with big claws (although maybe larger fishes like the Dunkleosteus did prey on them). We don’t know for sure whether these entirely aquatic animals had poison or not on their tails (called ‘telson’) but the large pincers were a very efficient weapon (modern scorpions that possess big pincers do NOT possess a powerful venom, so this could be an indicator)
This is an stunningly accurate replica. The number of extremities is accurate (4 pairs of legs, one pair of beautifully done paddles and a pair of segmented pincers, one of which seems to be about to grab something), and so is the number of body segments (14). It amazed me beyond measure to discover that the tiny pair of eyes that should be located at the top of the head is in fact there. At first I totally missed them, but after careful examination, I saw that they were there! The enormous purple compound eyes are also noteworthy.
I’m not entirely pleased with the rest of the paint job, though. I’d expect an eurypterid to have a more uniform colouring, but guess what, as always, this Kaiyodo piece has many different shades (green, purple, gray, white, yellow). The underside is a little bit more conservative. If I had had my way, I’d have liked it to be black or gray.
Kaiyodo did another good job on this one, it’s a well done piece that shows that they did some research. It’s smallish, true (11 cm approx.) but it’s still one damn fine toy.
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