Fake Eurypterid Picture Floating Around on Internet

I have recently been alerted to this picture which has been floating around on the internet:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1cb8c9239c19.jpg[/atsimg]

This picture is a hoax. Please be aware of this in any chain emails, YouTube videos, or discussions on cryptozoology.

How do I know this picture is a hoax?

Primarily, it looks like a drawing that was photoshopped into an image. You can tell because the detail in the critter has a higher quality than the background image, which is a bit blurry and pixelated. In addition, the light seems to be coming from a different angle.

This is a picture that someone photoshopped an image of an eurypterid into. If this were a critter who exists today, it would be a chelicerate arthropod, related to a horseshoe crab. Eurypterids were chelicerate arthropods.

They went extinct during the Permian-Triassic extinction event 251 million years ago, and their fossils have a near global distribution.

en.wikipedia.org...

A Google search for "eurypterid" turns up the exact image in this thread. It may have been a photoshop entry for an art competition or something, if someone wants to research the details of the history of the fake picture, by all means go ahead.

But these critters do not currently exist. Their relatives do, such as horseshoe crabs, which are quite common, and spiders. This guy was more closely related to a spider or scorpion than to a crab or lobster, believe it or not.

So please be aware and use common sense when debating whether a picture of an animal is real or not on the internet.



[edit on 1/17/2010 by ravenshadow13]

I'm not denying that the photo is indeed a fraud, but as a professional artist, you need to reassess where you believe the light source is coming from. look at the left edge of the shadow from his hat that is on his chest; now draw a line from that line up and you will clearly see that the light source is indeed coming from the top left.

reply to post by eightonefive


You're right, oops, it's not coming from the right.
It does look like it's coming from a different angle from the left though.

Regardless, maybe someone was very skilled with utilizing photoshop to make hoax images. I hope they won whatever contest they entered or feel gratified.

No wonder people are afraid of the ocean, with things like this floating around.

For a 5second glance at this very very low resolution, the lighting looks ok. No major mistakes.

It looked sorta plastic to me. Like a toy or something.

If it was real, I don't think he would be holding it like that with such a meek expression.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13

Regardless, maybe someone was very skilled with utilizing photoshop to make hoax images.

No hoax is perfect though.

Every hoax misses a detail that goes unaccounted for.

There is no way to account for everything to plan the perfect hoax.

I bet this thing would taste amazing with drawn butter!!!

I downloaded the photo and examined it... does not look photoshopped to me. His fingers on the right hand fit perfectly in the photo..and the shadow from the hat also looks correct.

Lots of strange critters pop up out of the ocean and quite often.

HAHA I have sucessfully debunked the image. comes from a movie company called crawley creatures...

Crawley Creatures

The other clue this was fake is that they have been extinct for 150 million years or more. It IS cool though, can't say as I would want to see one that close.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


It's a fake?

*sigh, puts cocktail sauce away ...*

Well apparently it's not a fake. The only fraud here is the interpretation of the photo. The detail on the creature is due to the artists creativity when designing how it should look.

Good find eightonefive! Star.

You can probably still eat it, I just doubt it will be very tasty or nutritious.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


makes you think how many more pictures are "fake" out there..

reply to post by eightonefive




Some cool pictures though...

Those guys are pretty good.

It's not fake, it never pretended to be real XD. It's from a documentary on extinct life with a fictional plot where the crew travel to ancient seas and go diving with CGI and Animatronic creatures of the past

reply to post by Zoopedia



It is fake in the context of people running around thinking the image is real. That's untrue. I was specifically referring to the use of this image which is not of a living critter for hype and chain emails.

It's not a living critter. It's not real. People think it is. That's an issue.

I wouldn't have eaten this if it were alive though. Related to spiders and horseshoe crabs and scorpions, not crustaceans. Gross.