| Description |
Eurypterids were giant chelicerate arthropods that have been extinct since the Permian Period. Eurypterids are rare as fossils, and many eurypterid fossils are likely skeletons shed during life (molts), which make it problematic when seeking to determine the types of environments in which they lived. Analysis of functional morphology in conjunction with investigations of their paleobiogeography often are employed to study eurypterid paleoecology and paleoenvironments. A selection of specimens from the Ciurca Collection in Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History was examined to determine the composition of the fossil assemblage, state of preservation, implications for environmental interpretation and potential community relationships, and the utility of faunal associations for paleoenvironmental interpretation in this case. Specimens are from the Williamsville Formation (Silurian) in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Due to the predominance of microenvironments represented in the Williamsville Formation, a localized environment in a narrow time range was selected to focus the evaluation. Eurypterids in this important collection include the genera Eurypterus, |
