Six Foot Long Scorpions

| life | sf |

There was a super interesting article in the SF Chronicle today about scorpions. It profiled Lauren Esposito, an arachnologist at the California Academy of Sciences, and her work studying these creatures. The venom found in some species of scorpions has been used to provide us with insights in fighting disease and developing opioid free pain relief. She discussed how original scorpions were over six feet long. Can you image?

It all began, she said, about 450 million years ago, when the ancestors of scorpions became the first arthropods to leave the sea. At the time, they were monsters, up to 6½ feet long, with stingers to match.

Source: Bay Area scientist stung by public’s perception of scorpions as scary scourge - SFChronicle.com

 

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