’Kraken’ octopus that lived at the time of the dinosaurs was a 62-foot-long apex predator of the ocean

A close inspection of 27 fossil jaws from finned octopuses challenge the longstanding belief that the apex oceanic predators of the Cretaceous ...

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#animals #mollusks #octopuses
https://www.livescience.com/animals/octopuses/kraken-octopus-that-lived-at-the-time-of-the-dinosaurs-was-a-62-foot-long-apex-predator-of-the-ocean

Kraken-like giant #octopuses 100m years ago crunched bones of prey: Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/23/kraken-like-giant-octopuses-crunched-cretaceous-bones paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6285

"One species, Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, was found to have a beak larger than that of the modern giant #squid, a creature that reaches about 12 metres in length... N. haggarti was between 7 and 19 m in length, which could make it the largest #invertebrate on record."

#KnowledgeByte: #Octopuses change color instantly using specialized skin cells called chromatophores, which are tiny, muscle-controlled pigment sacs.

Beyond #camouflage, these changes are used for communication (like warning predators or attracting mates) and may even occur involuntarily while the octopus is dreaming.

https://knowledgezone.co.in/posts/How-do-Octopuses-Change-Colour-699e7fe3a12fc0127b490412

P.S.Villar et al. (2026) studied #evolutionary aspects of the #copulatoryorgan in #male #octopuses and describe it as #multifunctional organ that performs two key #functions: the #hectocotylus is a specialized tentacle that delivers #spermatophores into the #female's #mantlecavity. But the authors identified it also as #chemotactile #receptor for #progesterone during #materecognition.
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https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec9652

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