Eurypterid

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/eurypterid

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Eurypterida. This extinct order belongs to the class Merostomata
2. What is the diet?Carnivorous; included fish, other invertebrates (trilobites, cephalopods), and conspecifics
3. What were Eurypterids and why were they called sea scorpions?Eurypterids were ancient marine arthropods that lived in the oceans. They were called sea scorpions because their bodies and claws looked a lot like modern scorpions.
4. When did Eurypterids live and how long did they exist?Eurypterids first appeared about 480 million years ago and disappeared around 250 million years ago. They lived for about 230 million years, a very long time for a single group of animals.

Chelicerate: A subphylum of arthropods that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and extinct eurypterids.
Paleoecology: The study of the relationships between ancient organisms and their environments.
Phylogenetic: Relating to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms.