Eurypterus remipes   CLASS - Merostomata ORDER - Eurypterida FAMILY - Eurypteridae GENUS/SPECIES - Eurypterus remipes ROCK UNIT - Fiddler's Green Formation AGE - Late Silurian (410 million years old) LOCALITY - Alan Lang's Quarry, Passage Gulf, Herkimer Co., New York Eurypterus remipes is probably the most common eurypterid or "sea scorpion" species found in New York State. Eurypterids are very rare fossils worldwide, partly due to their thin, unmineralized exoskeleton (or "shell"). New York State is one of a small number of places in the world where euryterids can be commonly found (even then, only in particular rock units). Eurypterids were first studied in detail by paleontologists with the New York State Survey. For all these reasons, the eurypterid Eurypterus remipes was designated the official state fossil of New York in 1984. The broad head and spiked tail of Eurypterus remipes show a closer similarity to fossil and modern horseshoe crabs, such as Mesolimulus. PRI 42893