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Judi Lynn

(160,592 posts)
Fri Mar 18, 2022, 04:09 AM Mar 2022

Octopuses were around before dinosaurs, fossil find suggests


Oldest known ancestor of octopuses unearthed in Montana in form of approximately 330m-year-old fossil

Associated Press in Washington
Tue 8 Mar 2022 15.38 EST

Scientists have found the oldest known ancestor of octopuses – an approximately 330m-year-old fossil unearthed in Montana.

The researchers concluded the ancient creature lived millions of years earlier than previously believed, meaning that octopuses originated before the era of dinosaurs.

The 4.7-inch (12-cm) fossil has 10 limbs – modern octopuses have eight – each with two rows of suckers. It probably lived in a shallow, tropical ocean bay.

“It’s very rare to find soft tissue fossils, except in a few places,” said Mike Vecchione, a Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History zoologist who was not involved in the study. “This is a very exciting finding. It pushes back the ancestry much farther than previously known.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/08/octopuses-were-around-before-dinosaurs-fossil-find-suggests
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Octopuses were around before dinosaurs, fossil find suggests (Original Post) Judi Lynn Mar 2022 OP
Such fake science is a shame. No wonder people reject scientists.... Chainfire Mar 2022 #1

Chainfire

(17,587 posts)
1. Such fake science is a shame. No wonder people reject scientists....
Fri Mar 18, 2022, 10:32 AM
Mar 2022

We all know that the world is only 6,000 years old, and the Universe is only a few days older... Montana? Shallow Tropical ocean? The next thing that they will claim is that Trump lost the last presidential election!

The octopus must be an extremely hardy species to have managed to adapt through the times cited.

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