Prehistoric Fish Alive in Russia (Images, Broken English)

Lord Iames Osari · Post by **Lord Iames Osari** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:19 am

Look what they have found in Chelyabinsk city. The story is that there was a construction site with a deep foundation ditch. They have touched some underground river in that place so the water in the ditch didnâ€™t get away so it stayed there full of water. Then some workers a few months later spotted some movement in this water, they threw some pieces of their lunch in the trench which caused a big activity inside. They were puzzled who is there? And caught one thing up then in big panic stepped away cause it tried to bite them so they had to kill it with some equipment and here are the remains of it. It was around 5 feet length. Nobody of them got any idea of whatâ€™s that:

Okay, so it's more of a crab, but still...

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:38 am

Even I can recognize a horseshoe crab. Like alligators and crocs, they're a species that's survived the die-offs and are nearly unchanged from their prehistoric ancestors. Some of them crawl up onto New England beaches during the summer months to spawn, then vanish back into the sea. National Geographic and Jacques Coustoe(sp) did several films on them when I was younger, which is how I know about them.

Since the construction touched an underground river, there's a good chance this particular species of horseshoe crab has been living down there for eons, breeding and surviving far from contact with humanity or the surface world. They might even be blind, like cave crabs and cave crickets.

PS: It also doesn't look 5ft long, more like the normal 1-2ft.

Lord Iames Osari · Post by **Lord Iames Osari** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:25 am

On further investigation, the website's reliability turns out to be (unsurprisingly) suspect. So you're probably right, LadyTevar.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:55 am

Man they look creepy once you turn them over.

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:50 pm

It looks related to a horseshoe crab, but the tail is highly different, which is very cool. I love the look of prehistoric lifeforms, they just have a sense of being ancient to them. Case in point: look at the scales on the tail, as far as I know you won't find anything visually quite like that on a modern creature.

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:05 pm

IIRC, the first 3-4 pairs of legs are actual walking/swimming legs. The rest of them (the feathery-looking ones) are his gills.

Post by **B4UTRUST** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 7:15 pm

It's cute, can I keep it?

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:17 pm

LadyTevar wrote:IIRC, the first 3-4 pairs of legs are actual walking/swimming legs. The rest of them (the feathery-looking ones) are his gills.

In the pictures above yes, that appears correct. In a normal horseshoe crab the gills are hidden under flaps placed behind the legs:
Pic

Whatever this thing is it ain't a horseshoe crab in appearance.

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:26 pm

No it isnt. On the other hand it is probably related in some way (at least insofar as they are both arthropods) I would love to see a genetic analysis done...

LadyTevar · Post by **LadyTevar** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:35 pm

Well... how much of that article can we take for truth?

Was it found in a ditch that came up from an underground river? We know it's not 5 ft long, that's for certain. It may even be less than a foot long.

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 9:42 pm

Comrade Tortoise wrote:No it isnt. On the other hand it is probably related in some way (at least insofar as they are both arthropods) I would love to see a genetic analysis done...

I'd love to see a study done on its life. Genetics would be very useful but I'd care more about its habits, why it has a tail like that and its apparent relatives do not, etc. As for the article, if it is a fake it is a damn fine job of one.

Post by **B4UTRUST** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:17 pm

I still want a 5ft seacreature like that for a pet
it looks cute in a Tyranidish sort of way...

Comrade Tortoise · Post by **Comrade Tortoise** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:00 am

The Silence and I wrote:
Comrade Tortoise wrote:No it isnt. On the other hand it is probably related in some way (at least insofar as they are both arthropods) I would love to see a genetic analysis done...
I'd love to see a study done on its life. Genetics would be very useful but I'd care more about its habits, why it has a tail like that and its apparent relatives do not, etc. As for the article, if it is a fake it is a damn fine job of one.

Before iwe study its habits, knowing how to classify it is pretty important, for that we would need the genetics

Soontir948 · Post by **Soontir948** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 9:48 pm

I am ashamed to write that my first thought was of the Pokemon Kabuto.

With that away, this creature looks awesome. I've always wanted a turtle or a rabbit as a pet but this trumps them both!

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Prehistoric Fish Alive in Russia (Images, Broken English)

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