Earliest octopuses were giant top predators in Cretaceous oceans

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ikegami, Shin; Mutterlose, Jorg; Sugiura, Kanta; Takeda, Yusuke; Derin, Mehmet Oguz; Kubota, Aya; Tainaka, Kazuki; Harada, Takahiro; Nishida, Harufumi; Iba, Yasuhiro
• 署名单位: Hokkaido University; Ruhr University Bochum; Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute; Osaka Metropolitan University; Niigata University; Chuo University
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aea6285
• 发表日期: 2026-04-23
• 页码: 406-410
• 关键词: evolution; hokkaido; JAWS; patterns; origin

摘要

Top predators drive changes in ecosystem structure. For the last similar to 370 million years, large-sized vertebrates have dominated the apex of the marine food chain, while invertebrates have served as smaller prey. Here we describe invertebrate top predators from this age of vertebrates, the earliest finned octopuses (Cirrata) from Late Cretaceous sediments (similar to 100 to 72 million years ago), as identified based on huge, exceptionally well-preserved fossil jaws and their wear. This extensive wear suggests dynamic crushing of hard skeletons. Asymmetric wear patterns further indicate lateralized behavior, suggesting advanced intelligence. With a calculated total length of similar to 7 to 19 meters, these octopuses may represent the largest invertebrates thus described, rivaling contemporaneous giant marine reptiles. Our findings show that powerful jaws, and the loss of superficial skeletons, convergently transformed cephalopods and marine vertebrates into huge, intelligent predators.