In Depth
Gigantoscorpio is a genus of scorpion known to have lived in Scotland during the Carboniferous period. Because the genus is known only from partial remains, full details about its size and body proportions are currently unavailable. However, the genus has been occasionally estimated to have been as much as ninety centimetres long, which would make it big, even for the Carboniferous. During this period many arthropods similar to todays in form grew substantially bigger, with the main theory to explain this being that the atmosphere had a much higher oxygen content during the Carboniferous which allowed these kinds of animals to grow bigger. Many types of animal were known, and one genus of scorpion called Pulmonoscorpius also lived in Scotland at the same approximate time as Gigantoscorpio, and Pulmonoscorpius is thought to have grown up to 70 centimetres in length (head to tip of the telson).
Further Reading
- Gigantoscorpio Willsi: A new scorpion from the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland and its associated preying microorganisms - Oslo University Press - Leif St�rmer - 1963. - On some micro-organisms associated with the scorpion Gigantoscorpio Willsi St�rmer - Oslo University Press - L.R. Moore - 1963.
