The fossil of an octopus ancestor discovered in the US state of Montana shows that octopuses existed before the age of dinosaurs. That reports “The Guardian” Tuesday. The fossil, which was excavated in the 1980s, was only recently discovered about 330 million years ago.
Researchers concluded that the octopus lived millions of years earlier than initially thought. This means that octopuses originated before the age of dinosaurs.
The fossil is twelve centimeters long and has ten arms (modern octopuses have eight) and each has two rows of suction cups. The animal probably lived in the shallow tropical ocean shores. The well-preserved fossil also shows some evidence of an ink sac. Like modern octopuses, it was likely used to spray a dark liquid to repel predators.
For decades, the fossil was not taken care of. Scientists have focused largely on shark fossils and other discoveries. But then paleontologists noticed the ten small arms, which were well preserved in limestone.
The vampire, as this species is called, is likely the ancestor of both modern octopuses and vampire squids. Previously, the researchers said, the oldest known vampyropod was about 240 million years old. Scientists have named the fossil Syllipsimopodi Bideni, after US President Joe Biden.
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