Largest crab claw fossil ever found in New Zealand

A pair of researchers, one a paleoecologist from Utrecht University and the other an independent crab fossil enthusiast, have identified the largest crab claw fossil ever known in New Zealand

In a paper by Barry W. M. van Bakel and Alex Osso published in the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, they examined the fossil in a rock found by Karl Raubenheimers on a beach in North Taranaki, New Zealand, and found that it is the largest crab claw fossil ever known.

Testing of the claw and other materials in the rock showed that it dated to around 8.8 million years ago.

Although the crab claw is extremely large and cannot yet be precisely measured because it is embedded in the rock, the researchers suggest that it is the largest fossil crab claw ever found.

It also represents a new species that the researchers have named “Pseudocarcinus karlraubenheimeri”.

The researchers note that there are many fossil crab claws in the region and that the beach where the claw was found is located in the Miocene Urenui Formation of the Taranaki Basin.

Previous research has shown that the nearby Mohakatino Volcanic Center erupted 8.8 million years ago and covered a number of creatures with sediment, mud and volcanic ash, and this mixture provided excellent preservation.

Source: Newsroom