Erettopterus

Erettopterus is a genus of large predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Erettopterus have been discovered in deposits ranging from Early Silurian to the Early Devonian, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from three continents; Asia, Europe and North America. The genus name is composed by the Ancient Greek words ἐρέττω, which means "rower", and πτερόν, which means "wing", and therefore, "rower wing".

Erettopterus

Tommy from Arad · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PterygotidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Eurypterida
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Eurypterida
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Eurypterida
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Eurypterida

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 432.9 Mya to 419.62 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 443.1 Mya to 410.62 Mya.

Ordovician — about 0 of 36 occurrencesSilurian — about 35 of 36 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 1 of 36 occurrencesDevonian444–443 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences443–441 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences441–440 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences440–439 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences439–438 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences438–437 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences437–436 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences436–435 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences435–434 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences434–432 Mya — about 1 occurrence432–431 Mya — about 3 occurrences431–430 Mya — about 2 occurrences430–429 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences429–428 Mya — about 1 occurrence428–427 Mya — about 2 occurrences427–426 Mya — about 1 occurrence426–425 Mya — about 2 occurrences425–423 Mya — about 3 occurrences423–422 Mya — about 4 occurrences422–421 Mya — about 5 occurrences421–420 Mya — about 5 occurrences420–419 Mya — about 2 occurrences419–418 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences418–417 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences417–416 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences416–414 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences414–413 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences413–412 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences412–411 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences411–410 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences432.9 Mya419.62 Mya443.8 Mya410 Mya

36 occurrences of Erettopterus on record, most of them in the Silurian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

36 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

24 formations

Shawangunk — 40.98°N, 75.14°WShawangunk — 41.47°N, 74.54°WDownton Castle Sandstone — 52.37°N, 2.73°WBloomsburg — 39.04°N, 78.71°WBloomsburg — 39.91°N, 77.50°WWhitcliffe — 52.37°N, 2.72°WWhitcliffe — 52.07°N, 2.65°WTemeside Shale — 52.37°N, 2.73°WHogklint — 57.57°N, 18.30°ERootsikula — 58.42°N, 22.50°EPozary — 49.93°N, 14.18°EHögklint — 57.62°N, 18.27°EFiddlers Green — 42.85°N, 78.80°WRose Hill — 40.66°N, 76.36°WMifflintown — 39.70°N, 78.18°WLockport — 43.25°N, 79.83°WWills Creek — 38.95°N, 79.00°WTymochtee — 41.67°N, 84.33°WVernon Shale — 43.08°N, 77.52°WVernon — 43.04°N, 75.59°WBertie — 42.88°N, 78.88°WHolland Quarry Shale — 41.67°N, 83.55°WPatrick Burn — 55.65°N, 3.92°WKip Burn — 55.65°N, 3.92°WLeintwardine — 52.38°N, 2.85°WLedbury — 51.95°N, 2.88°WYulongsi — 25.47°N, 103.70°E

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The named rock units Erettopterus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Erettopterus and its relatives

Silurian

Where Erettopterus and its relatives were recorded in the Silurian.

Found in the same rock

269 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 28 sites for Erettopterus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

7 references

Each of the 36 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Erettopterus

Credit
Tommy from Arad
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Erettopterus was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPterygotidae through timeFormations of the SilurianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Salter 1859)