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More than two decades after scientists identified the world’s oldest octopus – officials now say it wasn’t one at all.
A recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B found that the fossil Pohlsepia mazonensis – a 300-million-year-old sea creature found in the fossil beds of Mazon Creek in northeastern Illinois – was closer to a nautilus than an octopus.
Researchers now believe the creature was a relative of the nautilus, a cephalopod covered in a tentacled shell.
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Cephalopods are a class of marine animals that includes octopuses, squids and cuttlefish, and are known for their tentacles and highly developed nervous systems – and their lack of hard bones.
The fossil was identified as the world’s oldest octopus in 2000 – but is now thought to be the world’s oldest nautilus.
The researchers say that the fossil’s features, including its teeth, are more closely related to the nautilus than to the octopus. An image of the nautilus is seen above. (Stock)
University of Reading zoologist Thomas Clements, lead researcher of the new study, told the Associated Press that the fossils are “very difficult. [one] translation.”
He added, “Looking at it, it’s just like white mush.”
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“If you look at it, and you’re a cephalopod researcher, and you’re interested in the whole octopus thing, it looks like a deep-water octopus.”
The deciding factor, Clements said, was its teeth — which researchers used a synchrotron to probe inside the remains.
The fossil was found in the fossil beds of Mazon Creek in northeastern Illinois. As seen above, this place is known for keeping ancient sea creatures. (Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
They found that each row has 11 teeth – more than the seven or nine normally found in octopuses.
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“This has a lot of teeth, so it can’t be an octopus,” said Clements.
“And that’s how we realized that the world’s oldest octopus is actually a fossil nautilus, not an octopus.”
The researchers found that this fossil had 11 teeth per row, more than are usually seen in octopuses – creating a new classification. (Stock)
The fossil had similar teeth to a nautiloid called Paleocadmus pohli, an ancient creature found in the same area.
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Researchers say this fusion may have happened because the creature rotted and lost its shell before it matured.
“People have been asking if it was an octopus since the original paper was first published in 2000.”
The next oldest known octopus fossil is about 90 million years old – about 210 million years younger than the Pohlsepia mazonensis fossil.
“It’s a big gap,” Clements said, noting that he’s been asking questions for a long time.
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“And that big gap made researchers wonder, ‘Is this thing an octopus?’
The fossil is currently held at the Field Museum in Chicago.
Paul Mayer, who heads the museum’s invertebrate collections, said the new classification was “a little surprising”, but admitted that scientists had questioned the findings for years.
The Field Museum in Chicago houses the remains which have been reclassified after years of scientific debate. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)
“People have been asking if it was an octopus since it was first published in 2000,” Mayer told the AP.
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He added that the news is “excellent in our collections, and hopefully new discoveries will be made and new stories will be revealed.”
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
