the elder gods

the elder gods
from fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz on 21 Jul 19:01
https://mander.xyz/post/34422423

#science_memes

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rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works on 21 Jul 19:45 next collapse

From the middle Jurassic around 164 million years ago, putting it smack in the middle of the age of dinosaurs.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteroctopus

fossilesque@mander.xyz on 21 Jul 19:48 collapse

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohlsepia

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…/1475-4983.00155

rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works on 21 Jul 19:57 collapse

That’s not what is in the image you posted which is a protoceroctopus. Your link also states

Although it was originally identified as an extinct cephalopod,[1] later studies denied that interpretation.

fossilesque@mander.xyz on 21 Jul 20:26 collapse

Yeah! I was reading it, really interesting creature. Was hoping other people could comment more on it.

Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org on 21 Jul 20:17 next collapse

That's specifically octopi, right? Because there were cephalopods around that lived through the Great Dying.

BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world on 21 Jul 20:42 next collapse

We’re their ant farm

Maroon@lemmy.world on 21 Jul 21:27 next collapse

I thought soft-tissue didn’t fossilise. Cephalopods don’t have skeletons, then what exactly is getting fossilised here?

AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca on 21 Jul 21:39 next collapse

There are different types of fossils, some of which apply to soft tissue:

Impression: A shallow imprint of a fossil organism that does not retain any organic material.
Compression: A fossil that has been crushed or flattened but retains some organic material, although it has been chemically altered.
Carbonization: A process that occurs during fossilization in which complex organic molecules are converted into a more stable carbon compound that generally has a dark brown color.

This appears to be an impression fossil.

Geodad@lemmy.world on 22 Jul 00:21 collapse

I’ll add that the entire organism can fossilize in an anoxic environment with rapid burial.

KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works on 21 Jul 23:26 collapse

Happened all the time. It just depends on the environment. Check out basically anything on the “Tully monster” if you want to know more.

Tully monsters are actually even older than OPs fossil and we have no idea where they came from or where they went, from an evolutionary perspective.

MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip on 22 Jul 10:45 next collapse

Ok.

I mean, there were weird things in the waters at the time and those grabber noses(?) were all the hype.

KingGimpicus@sh.itjust.works on 22 Jul 18:41 collapse

Iirc the closest modern day relative is some form of sea slug. How you go from spore to slug has got to be a wild journey

BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz on 22 Jul 17:40 collapse

I know those guys and know what happened to them

They were my creations in Spore and went extinct after trying to sing their way into the heart of some purple, venomous, bipedal creature

skrlet13@feddit.cl on 21 Jul 22:05 next collapse

Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca on 21 Jul 23:13 next collapse

That’s only it’s head. To understand the entire being, imagine it with a humanoid body attached.

Like this

confluence@lemmy.world on 22 Jul 00:39 next collapse

My Octopus Teacher

But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world on 22 Jul 01:00 next collapse

Im still convinced they are not native to earth and just landed here on an asteroid

TheTurner@lemmy.zip on 22 Jul 17:09 next collapse

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!

anzo@programming.dev on 22 Jul 22:22 collapse

This is only a few centimeters big. There’s no way it could predate on dinosaurs… /s