PrehiscotInktoberfest Day 4: What could have made tracks like these, found in modern Fife?
The very strange Hibbertopterus scouleri ("Scouler's Hibbert's wing"), is a eurypterid, a great big weird sea scorpion thing that scuttled along the swamps of Carboniferous Scotland 330-odd million years ago. Hibbert, however, seems a gentle giant. They're believed to be sweep-feeders, combing through the silt and sludge for wee bits and pieces of organic matter, like a very slow hoover.
As the trackways in Fife and East Lothian show, this was a big beastie, about 2 metres long & a metre wide, about the size of an overturned coracle. Not quite large enough for a human to ride, but easily strong enough to let a wee Casineria kiddi ("Kidd's Cheese Bay") get a piggyback.
"Are we there yet?"
"Naw."
"Are we there yet?"
"Naw."
"Are we there yet?"
"NAW!"
"Whit's wrang?"
"If ye dinnae wheesht richt noo, yer WALKIN."
"Ooh tasty flee"
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