Carcinosoma newlini

Carcinosoma (meaning "crab body") is a genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Carcinosoma are restricted to deposits of late Silurian(Late Llandovery to Early Pridoli) age. Classified as part of the family Carcinosomatidae, which the genus lends its name to, Carcinosoma contains seven species from North America and Great Britain. Carcinosomatid eurypterids had unusual proportions and features compared to other eurypterids, with a broad abdomen, thin and long tail and spined and forward-facing walking appendages. They were not as streamlined as other groups but had considerably more robust and well developed walking appendages. In Carcinosoma, these spined walking appendages are thought to have been used to create a trap to capture prey in. The telson (final segment of the body) of Carcinosoma appears to have possessed distinct segmentation, Carcinosoma is the only known eurypterid to possess this feature. At 2.2 meters (7.2 ft) in length, the species C. punctatum is the largest carcinosomatoid eurypterid by far and is among the largest eurypterids, rivalling the large pterygotid eurypterids (such as Jaekelopterus) in size. Other species of the genus were considerably smaller, with most ranging from 70 centimeters (2.3 ft) to 100 centimeters (3.3 ft) in length.