Shockingly Powerful Giant Octopuses Ruled the Seas 100 Million Years Ago
Researchers discovered fossilized jaws of giant octopuses from the Late Cretaceous period, indicating they were massive predators that occupied the top of the marine food chain. The fossils showed heavy wear marks, suggesting powerful biting and an aggressive feeding strategy.
A study led by Hokkaido University found that the first known octopuses were massive predators that dominated ancient marine ecosystems. Fossilized jaws from Japan and Vancouver Island, dating back 100 to 72 million years, were analyzed using high-resolution grinding tomography and artificial intelligence. The fossils came from an extinct group of finned octopuses called Cirrata, which reached total lengths of up to nearly 20 meters. The jaws showed heavy wear marks, indicating repeated, forceful interactions with prey. The discovery pushes back the earliest record of finned octopuses by 15 million years and suggests that early octopuses exhibited complex, intelligence-related behavior. The findings challenge the view that ancient marine ecosystems were dominated by vertebrate predators.
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