Pterygotus fossil map
Where fossils of Pterygotus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 420 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 420 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Trilobites & sea scorpions |
|---|---|
| Lived | 443.1–368.5 million years ago (Rhuddanian to Famennian) |
| Periods | Silurian, Devonian |
| Family | Pterygotidae |
| Named by | Agassiz 1844 |
| Fossil records | 64 occurrences at 52 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, UK, Poland, Norway, Canada, Czechia, Ukraine, Estonia, Libya, Russian Federation … |
| Rock formations | txn:303383, Pozary, Sundvollen, Dundee Flagstone, Syracuse, Bostów |
About Pterygotus
Pterygotus is an extinct genus of giant predatory eurypterid, a group of extinct aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Pterygotus have been discovered in deposits ranging in age from Middle Silurian to Late Devonian, and have been referred to several different species. Fossils have been recovered from five continents; Australia, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, which indicates that Pterygotus might have had a nearly cosmopolitan (worldwide) distribution. The type species, P. anglicus, was described by Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz in 1839, who gave it the name Pterygotus, meaning "winged one". Agassiz mistakenly believed the remains were of a giant fish; he would only realize the mistake five years later in 1844.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Pterygotus (revision 1371893021), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in.
