What arthropods inhabited pre-Pangea Gondwana?

Remains of Terropterus xiushanensis were found in the south of China in the Xushan autonomous county. It is noted that these are the first and most ancient mixopterids that lived on the territory of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, formed after the collapse of Pangea.

The mixopterid family belongs to the eurypterids (the order of fossil arthropods), which reached one meter in length.

Their second and third pairs of forelimbs were very spiny and enlarged. Researchers believe that the crustaceans used them to capture prey.

According to scientists, the predator occupied a high position in the marine ecosystem of the Silurian period, since at that time there were no large vertebrates that could compete with it.