Illustration of a Tasmanian giant crab,Pseudocarcinus gigas.
Now, his findings have made history.
The crab lived about 8.8 million years ago, in the Miocene Epoch, alongside crabs of all sizes.
Illustration of a Tasmanian giant crab,Pseudocarcinus gigas. (Photo: John James Wild viaWikimedia Commons, Public domain)
This fossil ancestor is about half the size.
Like modern-day crabs, it is believed thePseudocarcinus karlraubenheimerilived in waters that stretched several hundreds of meters deep.
They were also a key element of the food chain.
The extant ‘Southern Giant Crab,’ Pseudocarcinus gigas (Lamarck Citation1818).A:dorsal view of male specimen, maximum carapace width 220 mm, maximum major claw length 270 mm (photograph by Ondřej Radosta).B:after McCoy Citation1889, originally drawn by John James Wild, scanned from the reference and kindly provided by P. Davie.(Photo: Barry Van Bakel and Àlex Ossó /New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics,CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED)
Now, they may shed light on the evolution of larger crustaceans.
This is the largest fossil crab to have ever been discovered, which is fascinating, added van Bakel.
This formed the food source for these giant crabs!
Pseudocarcinus karlraubenheimeri n. sp.,A, paratype,NMNZ CR.027703, showing dorsal carapace, with both left (minor) and right (major) chelipeds; arrows indicate larger granules on posterior carapace surface;B,oblique view showing fingers of both chelipeds. Photographs by Jean-Claude Stahl (NMNZ). Scale bars equal 50 mm. (Photo: Barry W. M. van Bakel and Àlex Ossó /New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics,CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED)
It is great to learn about former ecosystems.
Photographs by Jean-Claude Stahl (NMNZ).
Scale bars equal 50 mm.
Pseudocarcinus karlraubenheimeri n. sp.,A, holotype,NMNZ CR.027704, showing dorsal carapace, thoracic sternum and major right cheliped (male);B,detail of right major cheliped and thoracic sternum;B’,annotated detail of thoracic sternum, abbreviations: 4, 5, 6, thoracic sternites 4, 5 and 6; e4, e5, e6, episternites 4, 5 and 6; g4, g5, gynglyme of thoracic sternites 4 and 5; 4/5, 5/6, thoracic sternal sutures 4/5 and 5/6; ag, axial groove; og, oblique groove; pb, press-button for pleonal holding mechanism. Photographs by Jean-Claude Stahl (NMNZ). Scale bars equal 50 mm. (Photo: Barry W. M. van Bakel and Àlex Ossó /New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics,CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED)
Photographs by Jean-Claude Stahl (NMNZ).
Scale bars equal 50 mm.
