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[-] rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 56 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

From the middle Jurassic around 164 million years ago, putting it smack in the middle of the age of dinosaurs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteroctopus

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)
[-] rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 28 points 2 weeks ago

That's not what is in the image you posted which is a protoceroctopus. Your link also states

Although it was originally identified as an extinct cephalopod,[1] later studies denied that interpretation.

[-] fossilesque@mander.xyz 8 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah! I was reading it, really interesting creature. Was hoping other people could comment more on it.

[-] Maroon@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

I thought soft-tissue didn't fossilise. Cephalopods don't have skeletons, then what exactly is getting fossilised here?

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 week ago

There are different types of fossils, some of which apply to soft tissue:

  • Impression: A shallow imprint of a fossil organism that does not retain any organic material.

  • Compression: A fossil that has been crushed or flattened but retains some organic material, although it has been chemically altered.

  • Carbonization: A process that occurs during fossilization in which complex organic molecules are converted into a more stable carbon compound that generally has a dark brown color.

This appears to be an impression fossil.

[-] Geodad@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I'll add that the entire organism can fossilize in an anoxic environment with rapid burial.

[-] KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 week ago

Happened all the time. It just depends on the environment. Check out basically anything on the "Tully monster" if you want to know more.

Tully monsters are actually even older than OPs fossil and we have no idea where they came from or where they went, from an evolutionary perspective.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Ok.

I mean, there were weird things in the waters at the time and those grabber noses(?) were all the hype.

[-] KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Iirc the closest modern day relative is some form of sea slug. How you go from spore to slug has got to be a wild journey

[-] skrlet13@feddit.cl 10 points 1 week ago
[-] Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 5 points 2 weeks ago

That's specifically octopi, right? Because there were cephalopods around that lived through the Great Dying.

[-] TheTurner@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!

[-] anzo@programming.dev 3 points 1 week ago

This is only a few centimeters big. There's no way it could predate on dinosaurs... /s

[-] BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

We're their ant farm

[-] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

That's only it's head. To understand the entire being, imagine it with a humanoid body attached.

Like this

[-] confluence@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
444 points (100.0% liked)

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