Predator Demoted

Extinct, giant arthropods, long assumed to be top predators of ancient seas, didn’t have sharp enough eyesight to be refined hunters.

Written byJef Akst

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CRACKING CRABS: Laub’s colleague used this apparatus to measure the force needed to penetrate the shell of a horseshoe crab.RICHARD S. BERKOF

Eurypterids, or sea scorpions, immediately caught paleontologist Richard Laub’s attention when he became a curator at the Buffalo Museum of Science in 1973. Browsing the museum’s fossil collection, he was impressed with the formidable clawlike mouthparts of the largest of this extinct group of arthropods, the pterygotids. Reaching lengths of more than 2 meters, the aquatic animals hold the title as the largest arthropods to ever live, and Laub didn’t have much doubt about the utility of their giant pincers. “I thought they were a combination fishing spear and can opener,” says Laub, now retired. “It seemed obvious.”

But a few years ago, when Laub finally got around to testing his hypothesis, he found out that the claws were simply not strong enough to stab ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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