/kloc-More than 0/00 years ago, a German scientific research ship first salvaged this strange creature from 4000 meters underwater. Its skin is black but its eyes are red, which makes people feel that it looks more like a legendary vampire, hence the name vampire squid. According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Communication, this 328 million-year-old fossil is the ancestor of the earliest known cephalopod-vampire squid. Other paleontologists are not sure. They think this specimen may represent another known ancient cephalopod, and call for a comprehensive chemical analysis to determine whether this species exists.
Fossils were excavated from limestone in Xionggou, Montana. Fossils found there are often well preserved, which is attributed to the influence of seasonal monsoon. Heavy rain quickly deposited sediments and other biological substances into the bay, which in turn nourished algae. The author thinks that these algae will cause temporary hypoxia, and the sudden injection of rain will reduce the salt content.
1988, this fossil was donated to the Royal Ontario Museum. For decades, it was neglected until Christopher Whelan, the co-author of this article, found its arm while studying these collections carefully. Whelan is a postdoctoral researcher in paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in new york. When he looked at the specimen more carefully under the microscope, he noticed that there were small suckers on these arms, which was a very rare discovery, because suckers in fossils usually could not be preserved.
Further visual inspection shows that this fossil squid has 10 arms, just like modern squid and cuttlefish. Octopus has eight forelimbs, while vampire squid, which is closely related to octopus, has eight forelimbs and two filaments. People think that they used to be two extra forelimbs.
Whelan said: "The number of arms is one of the decisive characteristics that distinguish ten-armed squid, eight-armed squid and vampire squid." "We have long known that octopus is achieved by eliminating two filaments of vampire squid, and these filaments are degenerated forelimbs. However, all the previously reported vampire squid fossils with appendages have only eight arms, so this fossil can be said to be the first time to confirm the view that all cephalopods (classification of vampire squid) ancestors had 10 arms.
This newly discovered vampire squid ancestor may have a torpedo-shaped body, and fins can help him move forward in the water. Surprisingly, the coracoid process was not found. When cephalopods were able to swim horizontally in the early days, the coracoid process played a balanced role.
"The ancestors of bloodsucking squid may have filled the position of intermediate aquatic predators," said Neil Landman, honorary curator and co-author of the museum. "It is not difficult to imagine that it may pry the small chrysanthemum stone out of its shell with its arm covered with suckers, or venture to the closer coast to prey on other marine animals with shells."
However, not everyone thinks that this fossil represents a new species. Christian Kruger, a paleontologist at the University of Zurich, told The New York Times that he thought it might be another known specimen of ancient cephalopods. He said: "exactly the same size, exactly the same age, exactly the same place, exactly the same proportion, but the preservation is a little different." He added that although chemical analysis is a bit expensive, it helps to solve this problem.
Of course, Whelan sticks to her point of view. He pointed out that most cephalopods have an inner shell, which helps to control buoyancy. It has a unique mineralized thin layer that distinguishes chambers, which is usually obvious in cephalopod fossils. The ancestors of this bloodsucking squid did not have these signs. Instead, it shows evidence of a sheath-like structure, a flat remnant that used to be an inner shell. Whelan said: "Today, only squid and their relatives, as well as bloodsucking squid, have a sheath-like structure."
Please let us know if there is any copyright infringement, and we will delete it within 24 hours.