Rosa Rubicondior: Refuting Creationism - A Giant Scorpion from 125 million years Before 'Creation Week'

Fossilized scorpions are extremely rare. J. longchengi is only the fourth terrestrial species found in China.

Image credit: NIGPAS

Jiangsu researchers discover 125-mln-year-old scorpion fossil | ENGLISH.JSCHINA.COM.CN

Some years ago, on holiday in Northern Greece, myself my eldest two children were exploring an old quarry which had been used as a local rubbish dump. I had come across it the day before and had told my children that this was just the sort of place to find scorpions. True to my prediction, as I turned over a flat piece of plywood, there in all their glory were two pale yellow scorpions! I gently pressed one down with a stick so my children could watch it sting the stick with a series of rapid jabs with its tail.

Fortunately, they were relatively small compared to the scorpions that lived in what is now China in the Mesozoic in that long period of history from before creationism's little god created a small flat planet with a dome over it, when 99.9975% of Earth's history happened, giant venomous scorpions lived in what is now China, 125 million years ago. Jeholia longchengi was around 4 inches (10 cm) long and was a key species within the food chain of the Cretaceous ecosystem.

Describe the evolutionary history of scorpions, please. Scorpions have a long and fascinating evolutionary history, stretching back over 435 million years to the Silurian period. They are among the earliest known terrestrial arthropods and have undergone relatively little morphological change over time, demonstrating a remarkable case of evolutionary stability.

Origins: Aquatic Ancestry

The earliest scorpions, such as Parioscorpio venator (dating to around 437 million years ago), show evidence of an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle. These early scorpions likely lived in shallow marine or freshwater environments, resembling their eurypterid (sea scorpion) relatives. Their anatomy suggests they had book gills, similar to modern horseshoe crabs.

Transition to Land: The Devonian Shift

By the Late Silurian to Early Devonian (about 420–400 million years ago), scorpions began to transition to a terrestrial lifestyle. Fossil evidence suggests that some scorpions developed book lungs, an adaptation that allowed them to extract oxygen from air rather than water. This transition is crucial because it marks one of the earliest instances of arthropods colonizing land.

Carboniferous Period (359–299 million years ago): Giant Scorpions

During the Carboniferous, scorpions diversified significantly and some reached impressive sizes. Some species, like Pulmonoscorpius, grew up to 70 cm (27 inches) long. This period was characterized by high atmospheric oxygen levels, which may have supported the evolution of large arthropods.

Mesozoic Era (252–66 million years ago): Early Modern Scorpions

By the Mesozoic, scorpions had evolved into more recognizable forms, with many modern features already in place. Fossils from this time indicate that scorpions had adapted to various terrestrial habitats, from deserts to tropical forests.

Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago–present): Stability and Radiation

Scorpions have changed relatively little over the past hundred million years, suggesting that their general body plan was already highly successful. Today, over 2,500 species of scorpions exist, inhabiting diverse environments worldwide, from rainforests to deserts.

Key Evolutionary Trends

Transition from aquatic to terrestrial habitats
Development of book lungs for respiration on land
Early gigantism during the Carboniferous
Stabilization of body morphology since the Mesozoic
Diversification into modern ecological niches
Scorpions are an example of evolutionary success, persisting through multiple mass extinctions while maintaining a body plan that remains effective in predation and survival.

A fossil of one of them has just been described in the journal Science Bulletin and announced in a news item from Jiangsu:

Jiangsu researchers discover 125-mln-year-old scorpion fossil
A team led by researcher Huang Diying from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found an ancient scorpion fossil dating back approximately 125 million years.
The fossil, named Jeholia longchengi after its discovery site in the Jehol Biota of Longcheng District in Chaoyang City, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, is the first Mesozoic scorpion fossil unearthed in the country.

Huang explained that the scorpion lived during the Early Cretaceous period and the Jehol Biota preserved numerous fossils, including feathered dinosaurs, early birds and plant fossils, and is regarded as one of the most important paleontological discoveries of the 20th century.

Measuring around 10 centimeters in length, the species is believed to have been a secondary or tertiary consumer in the Jehol Biota food web and features long legs and an elongated venomous stinger.

Only three scorpion fossils have previously been found in China. This discovery will contribute to the understanding of biodiversity of the Mesozoic era, and will help reconstruct the ecosystem of that time.

Huang Diying, lead author
State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy
Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology,
and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.

Graphic Abstract

Xuan, Qiang; Cai, Chenyang; Huang, Yuangeng; Huang, Diying
First Mesozoic scorpion from China and its ecological implications
Science Bulletin (2025) DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2025.01.035

© 2025 Elsevier.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

As an added extra, just to allay creationists suspicions that the date of this fossil may have been faked:

What information do you have on the Jehol Biota, especially how its age was determined? The Jehol Biota: An Overview

The Jehol Biota is an exceptionally well-preserved fossil assemblage from the Early Cretaceous (about 133–120 million years ago) of northeastern China, particularly in Liaoning, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia. It is famous for its fossilized birds, feathered dinosaurs, early mammals, plants, insects, and aquatic organisms. The preservation is remarkable, often showing soft tissues, feathers, and even stomach contents.
Age Determination of the Jehol Biota

The age of the Jehol Biota has been determined using multiple methods, primarily:

Radiometric Dating (Zircon U-Pb Dating)
The most reliable way to date volcanic ash layers interbedded with the fossil-bearing sediments is Uranium-Lead (U-Pb) dating on zircon minerals. Zircons form in volcanic eruptions and contain uranium, which decays to lead at a known rate, providing an accurate radiometric clock.

Yixian Formation (lower part of Jehol Biota): Dated to ~133–125 million years ago (Ma)
Jiufotang Formation (upper part of Jehol Biota): Dated to ~120 Ma
These ages are consistent across multiple studies, confirming the Jehol Biota as Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian–Aptian stages).

Argon-Argon (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar) Dating
Another method used is ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating on volcanic feldspar minerals, which provides independent confirmation of the zircon-based U-Pb dates. These results have generally aligned with the U-Pb ages, supporting the Early Cretaceous timeframe.
Biostratigraphy (Fossil Correlation)
Fossils from the Jehol Biota, particularly certain fish, molluscs, and index fossils like ostracods and conchostracans have been correlated with well-dated formations elsewhere in China and Mongolia. This cross-referencing with other Early Cretaceous faunas supports the radiometric dating results.
Magnetostratigraphy
Paleomagnetic studies (analyzing Earth's past magnetic field reversals recorded in rock layers) also support the Early Cretaceous age by aligning with the global geomagnetic polarity timescale.

Conclusion

The age of the Jehol Biota (~133–120 Ma) has been established through a combination of U-Pb zircon dating, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating, biostratigraphy, and magnetostratigraphy making it one of the best-dated fossil Lagerstätten from the Early Cretaceous. This precise dating has been crucial in understanding early avian evolution, feathered dinosaur diversity, and early angiosperm development.

If these dating methods are wrong because radioactive decay rates used to be much higher, this would have meant the forces that hold an atomic nucleus together would have been too weak for atoms to form.

So, it comes down to creationists having to choose between radioactive decay being much faster than today so 6,000 years looks like 125 million years, in which case atoms could not have existed when their putative creator was creating life, or radioactive decay rates are constant and the dating methods that use them are correct, in which case there are 125 million-year-old fossils of giant scorpions that lived millions of years before creationists believe there was a universe.

Advertisement

Amazon