Kiaeropterus

Kiaeropterus is a genus of prehistoric eurypterid classified as part of the Brachyopterellidae family. Two species, both from the Silurian period, are known; K. cyclophthalmus from Scotland and K. ruedemanni from Norway.

Kiaeropterus

Ichthyovenator · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
RhenopteridaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Eurypterida
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Eurypterida
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Eurypterida
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Eurypterida

Time the record covers

At most 24 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 443.1 Mya and 419.62 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Ordovician — about 0 of 4 occurrencesSilurian — about 4 of 4 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 0 of 4 occurrences444–443 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences443–442 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences442–441 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences441–440 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences440–440 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences440–439 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences439–438 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences438–437 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences437–436 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences436–435 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences435–435 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences435–434 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences434–433 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences433–432 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences432–431 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences431–431 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences431–430 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences430–429 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences429–428 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences428–427 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences427–426 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences426–426 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences426–425 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences425–424 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences424–423 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences423–422 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences422–422 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences422–421 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences421–420 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences420–419 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences443.6 Mya419.1 Mya

4 occurrences of Kiaeropterus 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

4 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

1 formation

Shawangunk — 40.98°N, 75.14°WShawangunk — 41.47°N, 74.54°W

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The named rock units Kiaeropterus 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.

Kiaeropterus and its relatives

Silurian

Where Kiaeropterus and its relatives were recorded in the Silurian.

Found in the same rock

10 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 3 sites for Kiaeropterus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

1 reference

Each of the 4 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. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Kiaeropterus

Credit
Ichthyovenator
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Kiaeropterus 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 itRhenopteridae through timeFormations of the SilurianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Waterston 1979