The 330-Million-Year-Old Fossil That Revealed an Ancient Octopus Relative

A 330-million-year-old Montana fossil is one of the oldest known vampyropods, an ancient group related to modern octopuses and vampire squid.

Medicine

Details

A remarkable fossil from Montana dates to about 330 million years ago, deep in the Carboniferous period. The animal, named Syllipsimopodi, was described as an early vampyropod, the group that includes modern octopuses, vampire squid, and their close extinct relatives. Its preserved body shows ten arms with rows of suckers, a gladius, fins, and an ink sac, giving researchers rare evidence about what very early members of this lineage looked like. The discovery pushed the known fossil record of vampyropods back by roughly 82 million years. It also suggested that some traits associated with modern octopus relatives appeared much earlier than previously recognized. The original fossil was not itself a modern octopus, despite the simplified way the discovery was widely described. Later research has also challenged the exact classification of Syllipsimopodi, with some paleontologists arguing that it may belong within an already known Carboniferous lineage. So the safest description is that this is an exceptionally old vampyropod fossil that helps illuminate the deep evolutionary history of octopus relatives.

More videos

Up nextHow Dolphins Get Fresh Water While Living in the Ocean