Megalograptus is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods, containing five species, all based on fossil material found in the United States: M. alveolatus, M. ohioensis (pictured), M. shideleri, M. welchi and M. williamsae. They were predators, with the largest and best-known species, M. ohioensis, growing to 78 centimeters (2 ft 7 in). The two most distinctive features of Megalograptus were its massive and spined forward-facing appendages, and its sharp spike-shaped telson (the last division of the body). Attached beneath the non-venomous telson were a pair of rounded blade-formed lobes which made it capable of grasping. Researchers have been able to infer the coloration that specimens might have possessed in life, believed to be brown and black, with M. ohioensis being darker than the others. Megalograptus lived in near-shore marine environments, where it used its large appendages to capture prey. The predator may have been cannibalistic at times, like many modern chelicerates.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalograptus
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1777:
American Revolutionary War: British general John Burgoyne's Saratoga campaign ended with his surrender to the Americans, later convincing France to enter the war in alliance with the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga_campaign
1814:
A wooden beer-fermenting vat in London burst, destroying a second vat and causing a large flood of at least 128,000 imperial gallons (580,000 l; 154,000 US gal) of porter that killed eight people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Beer_Flood
1964:
Prime Minister Robert Menzies inaugurated the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the Australian capital Canberra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Burley_Griffin
1992:
Having gone to the wrong house in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a Halloween party, Japanese exchange student Yoshihito Hattori was shot and killed by the homeowner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Yoshihiro_Hattori
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
the die is cast: (idiomatic) Conclusive action has been taken, so events will proceed in an irreversible manner; the point of no return has been passed; the future is determined; there are no more options. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/the_die_is_cast
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes. --Arthur Miller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller