This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Thursday, 10 March 2022
Did the Octopus Inherit the Earth?
Cephalopods (octopuses and squids) are relatively intelligent relatives of slugs and snails. They are generally soft-bodied invertebrates, that do not lend themselves to fossilisation. The, now extinct, Ammonites were exceptions, having multichambered shells, used to control their buoyancy. Until comparatively recently, the earliest definite octopus fossil was 240 million years old. This has now changed with the identification of Syllipsimopodi bideni (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/mar/08/octopuses-were-around-before-dinosaurs-fossil-find-suggests). Syllipsimopodi bideni is 330 million years old, meaning that it pre-dates the dinosaurs. The 12 cm fossil was discovered in limestone deposits in Montana. In 1988, it was donated to a Canadian museum. Like many such donations, it 'sat around in a drawer for decades', before its importance was recognised. The fossil has 10 limbs (the octopus has 8), each with 2 rows of suckers. There is also a trace of an ink-sac (used by modern Cephalopods to aid escape from predators). The fossil is now classified as a Vampyropod, a probable ancestor of both the modern octopus and the vampire squid. Syllipsimopodi bideni was, of course, named after the current US President. It is uncertain how he feels about this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Weight-loss Drugs: A Panacea?
GLP-1RAs are found in all weight-loss medications including Mounjaro; Saxenda;and Wegovy. A very substantial US study, looked at almost 21...
-
It's necessary, where possible, to replace diesel and petrol-fueled vehicles by electrical equivalents. Electric vehicles (EVs) don...
-
Zonal pricing is a proposed change to the UK energy market. It would result in energy consumers paying less for electricity, if they are ba...
-
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants growing in marine environments. Seagrass meadows (large accumulations of these plants) provide vit...
No comments:
Post a Comment