The oldest fossil octopus ancestor in history has seen paleontology. Dating back to 330 million years old, a new historic rock from a site in the state of Montana, USA becomes a testament to how ancient the octopus lineage is.
After this point, scientists were able to come to new conclusions. The ancient creature has existed for a long time, much longer than archeology knows, and new fossils suggest that octopuses lived before dinosaurs roamed the continent’s surface.
The fossil is about 12cm long, shows that the ancient octopus had 10 limbs, unlike the 8 we see today, each tentacle carried two rows of suckers. It is speculated that these ancient creatures lived in shallow waters, circling in tropical bays.
Ancient octopus fossils had 10 tentacles.
“Fossils of soft tissue are rare, except in certain locations“. Mike Vecchione, a zoologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, said. Not participating in the research, but with extensive knowledge, he can confirm that the genealogy of the octopus has been deepened many millions of years in the past.
The specimen was found in a limestone block originating from Khe Bear limestone cliffs in Montana, which contains many precious fossils. The block was donated to the Royal Museums of Ontario in 1988.
For decades, the piece of stone lay dormant in a storage drawer, watching archaeologists scrutinize fossil sharks taken from Khe Bear. Change came to it when a team of paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History spotted 10 small genera etched in the rock.
Khe Bear limestone cliffs.
In the fossil record, researchers also discovered traces of a bag of ink, the “weapon” of the ancient octopus’s defense against enemies. Yet another proof that the strategy of “exit to the top” succeeds throughout the evolutionary length.
In a new report published in the journal Nature Communications, the creature, part of the unofficial superorder vampyropod, is described as the ancestor of both the modern octopus and the demon squid (a creature with a terrifying appearance, and a closer relative to the octopus than to the squid). According to the report’s authors, evidence for earlier vampyropods dates to only 240 million years ago.
The creature in the fossil is named Syllipsimopodi bideni, after President Joe Biden. Scientists decided to honor the president when he emphasized science and research in his decisions.