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.