The “oldest octopus” wasn’t an octopus after all
A 300-million-year-old fossil once believed to be the world’s oldest octopus has just been reclassified — and it changes what we thought we knew about evolution.
The species, Pohlsepia mazonensis, discovered in Illinois, was long considered the earliest known octopus.
But new research from the University of Reading tells a different story.
Using advanced synchrotron X-ray imaging, scientists found:
11 tooth-like structures in its radula
While true octopuses only have 7–9
That key difference revealed the truth…
It wasn’t an octopus.
It was a nautiloid.
Paleobiologist Thomas Clements put it simply:
“The most famous octopus fossil was never an octopus.”
This discovery reshapes the timeline:
Octopus origins move forward by ~150 million years
Nautiloid evidence moves back by ~220 million years
A reminder that even in science…
one discovery can rewrite history.
A 300-million-year-old fossil once believed to be the world’s oldest octopus has just been reclassified — and it changes what we thought we knew about evolution.
The species, Pohlsepia mazonensis, discovered in Illinois, was long considered the earliest known octopus.
But new research from the University of Reading tells a different story.
Using advanced synchrotron X-ray imaging, scientists found:
11 tooth-like structures in its radula
While true octopuses only have 7–9
That key difference revealed the truth…
It wasn’t an octopus.
It was a nautiloid.
Paleobiologist Thomas Clements put it simply:
“The most famous octopus fossil was never an octopus.”
This discovery reshapes the timeline:
Octopus origins move forward by ~150 million years
Nautiloid evidence moves back by ~220 million years
A reminder that even in science…
one discovery can rewrite history.
The “oldest octopus” wasn’t an octopus after all
A 300-million-year-old fossil once believed to be the world’s oldest octopus has just been reclassified — and it changes what we thought we knew about evolution.
The species, Pohlsepia mazonensis, discovered in Illinois, was long considered the earliest known octopus.
But new research from the University of Reading tells a different story.
Using advanced synchrotron X-ray imaging, scientists found:
11 tooth-like structures in its radula
While true octopuses only have 7–9
That key difference revealed the truth…
It wasn’t an octopus.
It was a nautiloid.
Paleobiologist Thomas Clements put it simply:
“The most famous octopus fossil was never an octopus.”
This discovery reshapes the timeline:
Octopus origins move forward by ~150 million years
Nautiloid evidence moves back by ~220 million years
A reminder that even in science…
one discovery can rewrite history.
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