Brontoscorpio was a species of large scorpion from the Silurian period.
Characteristics[]
Brontoscorpio was a large, black scorpion with large pincers and a bulbous tail, which grew to be approximately eight feet long. Its body was covered in a hard exoskeleton, which made wildlife tasers ineffective against Brontoscorpio. The only soft spot Brontoscorpio had in its exoskeleton which could be exploited as a 'chink in its armour' was its open mouth. Brontoscorpio could also scale walls and ceiling and other surfaces like a spider. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1)
Brontoscorpio was a carnivorous predator, which would attack victims with its stinger to incapacitate them with its venom, then would drag the attacked prey's body away to suck out and consume their internal organs after the venom killed them. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1) It would seem that Brontoscorpio preferred to attack prey who were alone or off-guard, although it would engage an organised group of other animals in a direct fight if it had to. Brontoscorpio displayed some similar caution and attack strategy to some modern day scorpions; approaching prey tensed and cautiously, and momentarily backing away slightly at movement, resistance and aggression from the victim.
Brontoscorpio vision. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1)
Brontoscorpio made their home in caves and burrows, and they also made use of hidden sinkholes across the land in their territory as sandtraps to trap unaware other animals for the Brontoscorpio to come for.
Venom[]
Brontoscorpio's large stinger on its tail would inject deadly venom into other animals with one sting, which could weaken and paralyse stung animals such as humans, and then kill them through causing heart failure. The symptoms of Brontoscorpio poisoning and the speed at which the venom took effect depended very much upon the dosage injected: a direct sting such as a stab would bring the victim down instantly and kill it within seconds, whereas an indirect sting such as a shallow scratch would gradually weaken, numb and then kill the stung victim over the course of a matter of hours. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1)
Incursions and encounters[]
The Sound of Thunder: Part 1[]
A Brontoscorpio went through an Anomaly into a Spaghetti Junction, and from there came through another Anomaly to Britannia Beach in 2012. There, the Brontoscorpio made its way to a volleyball pitch, where it stung and killed a volleyball player from above in the woods by the pitch while the man was alone. The creature then took the volleyball player's body back through the Spaghetti Junction to its home in the Silurian, where it sucked out his internal organs.
The Brontoscorpio in the present before returning through the Anomaly. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1)
Shortly afterwards, the Brontoscorpio returned through the Spaghetti Junction to 2012 Britannia Beach, where it attacked Dylan Weir and Mac Rendell in the upper levels of the abandoned mine where the Anomaly was located. The team managed to knock the Brontoscorpio back down onto the ground level of the mine, and then used sheets of metal as shields to force the creature back towards the Anomaly. The Brontoscorpio then returned through the Anomaly into the Spaghetti Junction (though not before it caught Toby Nance on the leg with its stinger), and from there, the Brontoscorpio returned through the Anomaly to the Silurian.
Later, the Brontoscorpio came across Dylan trapped in a hole in the creature's Silurian home, near the Anomaly. It began to attack her, until she fired a taser into its mouth, prompting the Brontoscorpio to retreat and return to its burrow. Dylan and Evan Cross shortly afterwards cornered the Brontoscorpio in its burrow, and Dylan distracted it while Evan snuck up behind the creature and cut the bulb of its tail off. After the burrow caved in, trapping Evan, the Brontoscorpio remained close by.
Brontoscorpio's face up close. (The Sound of Thunder: Part 1)
The Sound of Thunder: Part 2[]
The Brontoscorpio launched another attack on Evan, but the latter managed to knock it out with his taser.
Real life[]
Brontoscorpio was a species of large, presumably aquatic scorpion, which lived sometime during the Late Silurian period. It is believed to have been a carnivore which probably fed on worms, fish and even other arthropods. Brontoscorpio is only known from a single fossilized pedipalp limb found in Trimpley, Worcestershire. It is estimated that Brontoscorpio was at least 90 centimetres (35 inches) long. 'Brontos' is the Ancient Greek for 'thunder', hence the episode title.
Trivia[]
- Some fans believe that the concept of the Silurian Scorpion in Series 2 (a giant scorpion from the Silurian) was based upon Brontoscorpio, and that those Scorpions may have been a larger subspecies of Brontoscorpio. However, that is unlikely, as the Silurian Scorpion more closely resembled a whip scorpion and lacked a stinger, while Brontoscorpio was a true scorpion and had a stinger. The Silurian Scorpion was more likely an eurypterid (commonly known as a "sea scorpion") instead of a true scorpion like Brontoscorpio.
Errors[]
- The Brontoscorpio in Primeval: New World was one - two metres longer than as seen in the fossil record. Fans have suggested that the Brontoscorpio in the show may have been an unusually large specimen, or that the real-life fossilised Brontoscorpio was actually a juvenile in the Primeverse.
- In real life, Brontoscorpio had considerably smaller and more slender pincers, like the smaller, more venomous scorpions of the present; whereas in New World, the Brontoscorpio had very large and thick pincers, like scorpions that crush their prey rather than sting them to death.
- It is unlikely that Brontoscorpio's venom would have been effective against mammals such as humans, as there were no mammals or even reptiles or amphibians in the Silurian; Brontoscorpio's venom would have probably only worked against other arthropods.