Researchers have found an ancient scorpion fossil dating back approximately 125 million years in northeast China’s Liaoning Province, which is the first Mesozoic scorpion fossil discovered in China.

The fossil, named Jeholia longchengi after its discovery site in the Jehol Biota of Longcheng District in the city of Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, belongs to a renowned fossil assemblage from the Early Cretaceous period. Before the discovery of Jeholia longchengi, only three scorpion fossils had been found in China.

Morphologically, the scorpion is relatively large, measuring up to 10 centimeters in length–surpassing other known Mesozoic scorpion fossils. It features slender pedipalps, long legs, a pentagonal sternite and an elongated venomous stinger.

The discovery in Liaoning enriches China’s record of scorpion fossils and offers scientists a deeper understanding of Mesozoic biodiversity, as well as the opportunity to reconstruct the ecosystem of that era.

The scorpion fossil is now housed at the Fossil Valley Museum in Chaoyang, while the study has been published in the journal Science Bulletin.