The world really has its hidden monsters. Newly found fossils show the earth's first predatory monster which is reportedly 6 feet long, with a dozen arms growing from its head and seemingly venomous spiked tail, according to the new study.
Reports suggest that a group of scientists discovered signs of new species from the prehistoric deep of Iowa. The geologists from the Iowa Geological Survey reportedly found 150 pieces of fossils, which was about 60-feet deep from the Upper Iowa River.
The area had to be temporarily blocked for the collection of the species specimens and scientists from Yale University added that the newly discovered species were there for about 460 million years ago, back when Iowa was still under the oceans.
While they were busy examining the newly found species, they apparently found something bigger.
James Lamsdell of Yale, the lead author of the study, which has been published on Monday, August 31, in the BMC Evolutionary Biology, said "This is the first real big predator. I wouldn't have wanted to be swimming with it."
He went on to say, "There's something about bugs. When they're a certain size, they shouldn't be allowed to get bigger."
The creature was named Pentecopterus decorahensis and it was named after an ancient Greek warship. Lamsdell added, "It's part of the eurypterid family, which are basically sea scorpions."
Joe Hannibal from Cleveland Museum of Natural History also said that the type creatures "are really cool". Though Hannibal was not actually part of the study, he admired the group for having a job well done, adding that "this specie is not particularly bizarre for a eurypterid."
Adding to the reports, this creature didn't sting unlike the modern land scorpions, though the half body of this creature was a tail.
Lamsdell also pointed out that though there were larger sea scorpions previously discovered around the world, those were only bottom feeders and not dominant predators.
"It was obviously a very aggressive animal. It was a big angry bug." He said.
