New fossil discoveries suggest existence of giant ‘kraken’ octopuses as large as lorries
A truck-sized kraken-like octopus prowled the Earth’s oceans when dinosaurs dominated the land, new fossil discoveries have suggested.
Scientists believed that sharks and giant marine reptiles, such as 11-foot-long mosasaurs and 12-foot-long plesiosaurs, dominated the seas during the Cretaceous period. But the new fossils suggest the first octopuses may have been about the same size, with one potentially reaching 19 meters long, the same size as a truck or two double-decker buses.
Paleontologists from Hokkaido University used a new technique called “digital fossil mining” to re-examine 15 large jaw fossils previously identified as belonging to early relatives of octopuses.
The technique involves grinding a super-thin layer of the fossil-containing matrix, taking a high-resolution photo, and then repeating the process thousands of times to create a 3D, full-color model.
Using the technique applied to Late Cretaceous sediments collected from Hokkaido Island in northern Japan, one jaw was found to be superior to that of a living giant squid, whose body could grow up to 12 meters long.
The study was published on: Sciencefound that all the fossils belonged to two extinct octopus species: Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyi and N. haggarti. The latter may have been seven to 19 meters long, one of the largest invertebrates ever described.
Without complete specimens, it is difficult for scientists to confirm the size of these animals. The researchers said squids and octopuses were also not preserved due to their soft bodies, and their fossil record was less complete than other creatures; slender beaks are often the only traces of their existence.
Today’s octopuses are revered for their intelligence, displaying impressive problem-solving and learning abilities. Fossil evidence suggests that early cephalopods may have been the same.
Yasuhiro Iba of Hokkaido University suggested that the first octopuses were “huge, intelligent” carnivores that used their long tentacles to capture bony fish and large molluscs before crushing them with their powerful beaks.
Paleontologists observed that these early cephalopods were cracking hard shells and bones from the extensive wear on their jaws. Paleontologist Shin Ikegami said that when some beaks are distorted more on one side than the other, such as when humans are left-handed or right-handed, it could be an indication that handedness was equivalent to cephalopods.
“This laterality is related to the complexity of the brain,” Mr. Ikegami added.
