English Carboniferous Arthropods

Here are some interesting fossils on display at the 2nd floor of Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée in Paris, France. They are some sort of arthropod fossil that looks to be related to the modern horseshoe crab. They are all from the Carboniferous Period (U.S. Pennsylvanian Period).

This first one is from Coal Brook Dale, England and is called Prestwichia anthrax. The species was apparently discovered by Professor Joseph Prestwich in 1834-1836 (as Limulus anthrax). For any science fiction fans out there, it reminds me of a shadow ship on the TV series Babylon 5.

This next fossil is also from England and is named Prestwichia sp.

This last fossil is from Coal Brook Dale, England and is called Belinurus belulus. It is described in the Transactions of the Manchester Geological and Mining Society (May 1905) along with the previously shown Prestwichia anthrax on pages 124-127. The article is entitled "Prestwichia anthrax and Belinurus belulus from Sparth Bottoms, Rochdale" by Walter Baldwin. A scanned version of the article can be found at Google Books on the Internet.