How long have our cephalopod masters ruled the Earth? Apparently at least 95 million years. Of course, as the article points out, octopus fossils do not form easily. And that means that something that appears to be an octopus fossil is not necessarily complete, and might in fact be something else entirely…
4 thoughts on “From the Depths of Time, They Come”
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As unlikely as it is, this is my only reply . . .
Pseudopod 69: The Excavation
http://pseudopod.org/2007/12/21/pseudopod-69-the-excavation/
I’m a cephalopod fan. I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium when Mason was a little girl. There was a nautilus in one tank and I swear it was trying to talk to my daughter. It would wiggle it’s tentacles to get her attention, get real close to the glass and stare at her with those blue eyes. When Mason would start to leave, it would get all excited and go through the whole routine again until she would come back.
They look so intelligent. Makes you wonder. I’d be interested in seeing pics of the fossils.
One blog post which has a picture and discussion is here:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/03/octopods_from_the_cretaceous.php#more
George
George:
Many thanks. I was going to do that myself but you saved me the bother.