The 19 m long octopus could dominate the ancient sea

To date, scientists know very little about ancient octopuses because they have soft bodies and are rarely preserved as fossils, except for their hard beaks.

In a new study, paleontologist Yasuhiro Iba at Hokkaido University (Japan) and his colleagues studied 15 large beaked fossils that were once thought to be vampire squids, but actually belonged to the ancient octopus group. Nanaimoteuthis. Using digital images, they also discovered 12 more octopus beak fossils hidden in Cretaceous rock layers dating back 72-100 million years.

Of these, the most notable are Nanaimoteuthis haggartian octopus with a larger beak than the modern giant squid, which has a body up to 13 m long and is considered the largest invertebrate animal ever recorded. Based on the relationship between jaw size and body length in today’s finned octopuses, the research team estimates N. haggarti even has a full body length of 7-19 m, surpassing modern giant squid. New research published in the journal Science on April 23.

Theo Guardianmodern octopuses do not swallow their prey whole, but use their long, flexible arms to capture and control, then tear the prey with their beaks. The mine fossils bear distinct wear marks, indicating a similar ancient hunting strategy. In the largest individuals, the beak is significantly abraded, gradually becoming blunter and more rounded, and there are some scratches and chips.

“The octopus probably used its long arms to grasp prey and its powerful lower jaws to crush hard structures such as shells or bones. The obvious wear on the jaws suggests that they frequently handled hard prey,” Iba said.

N. haggarti could be a worthy opponent of prehistoric vertebrate predators such as sharks, snake-necked lizards, and mosasaurs. According to Iba, this octopus took advantage of its huge size, flexible arms and powerful bite to become the top predator of the ancient ocean.

“Our research shows that they were not simply large versions of modern octopuses. They were giant predators at the top of the marine food chain in the Cretaceous period. This changes the view that during the Cretaceous period, the sea was dominated only by large vertebrate predators,” Iba said.

New research has scientists asking whether there are even larger sea creatures. Adiel Klompmaker, a paleontologist at the University of Alabama Museum, noted that the new mine fossils were found in relatively shallow water sediments. He shared with National Geographic: “I wonder what existed in the deeper waters of the Cretaceous period, and what creatures are lurking out there that we don’t know about yet.”