Researchers have recently discovered fossils of the largest sea scorpion that ever existed. They say the monster bug died around 400 million years ago in an area where Germany is today. Four hundred million years ago, this area was open sea. The live sea scorpion would have been about 8 feet long, and was probably the ancestor of all living arachnids (spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks) today. Natural selection favored a large size because it evolved without any natural predators and because its natural prey were fish with body armor, so having a large size was necessary to capture, crush, and devour them for food. They eventually were wiped out when large fish with jaws and teeth evolved.

Settled Science explains in detail just how natural selection chooses the most efficient gene variations for all species of living organisms.

Source: Journal Biology Letters, Royal Society of University of Bristol by Dr. Markus Poschmann November 20, 2007

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