Latest
‘Gigantic’ ancient octopus used jaws to crush prey and hunted alongside the dinosaurs 100M years ago: study
Octopuses’ earliest relatives that lived 100 million years ago may have been “gigantic” predators that hunted alongside the dinosaurs, according to new research.
Although scientists previously believed that the earliest finned octopuses lived around 15 million years ago, researchers with Hokkaido University found fossilized jaws found inside late Cretaceous rock samples, according to a study published in the journal “Science” on Thursday.
Because octopuses are soft-bodied animals, they don’t fossilize well except for the jaw bones, making their evolutionary history difficult to trace, the researchers explained in a news release.
The researchers used high-resolution grinding tomography and an artificial intelligence model to find the fossils, which were located in rock samples that had been preserved in seafloor sediments found in Japan and Vancouver Island from 100 to 72 million years ago.
The Late Cretaceous was the final epoch of the Mesozoic Era, which was dominated by the dinosaurs, including tyrannosaurus rex and triceratops.
The fossils belonged to a group of extinct finned octopuses, known as Cirrata, that researchers believed crushed their prey with powerful jaws.
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH CHILLING 16TH-CENTURY GALLOWS WHERE REBELS WERE HANGED AND DISPLAYED
“Our findings suggest that the earliest octopuses were gigantic predators that occupied the top of the marine food chain in the Cretaceous,” Professor Yasuhiro Iba of Hokkaido University said in a statement. “Based on exceptionally well-preserved fossil jaws, we show that these animals reached total lengths of up to nearly 20 meters, which may have surpassed the size of large marine reptiles of the same age.”
Iba added that the most surprising finding was the “extent of wear on the jaws,” which showed extensive chipping, scratching and cracking.
“In well-grown specimens, up to 10% of the jaw tip relative to the total jaw length had been worn away, which is larger than that seen in modern cephalopods that feed on hard-shelled prey,” he explained. “This indicates repeated, forceful interactions with their prey, revealing an unexpectedly aggressive feeding strategy.”
These findings change the way scientists view predators during the Late Cretaceous period, which they previously believed was dominated by vertebrate predators, with invertebrates at the bottom of the food chain.
“This study provides the first direct evidence that invertebrates could evolve into giant, intelligent apex predators in ecosystems that have been dominated by vertebrates for about 400 million years,” Iba added. “Our findings show that powerful jaws and the loss of superficial skeletons, common characteristics of octopuses and marine vertebrates, were essential to becoming huge, intelligent marine predators.”
Latest
UC Berkeley slammed after anti-Israel group hosts failed suicide bomber as guest event speaker: ‘cesspool’
A chapter of a far-left organization at the University of California, Berkeley’s law school capped off a “Palestinian Political Prisoners Day” earlier this week with a message from a failed suicide car bomber who was jailed in Israel for eight years.
UC Berkeley Law Students for Justice Palestine shared a video on its Instagram account from convicted attempted car bomber Israa Jaabis, who thanked her western counterparts for supporting her cause.
“Firstly, I would like to thank [the students] for their attentiveness, for listening with their hearts,” Jaabis said, according to English translated subtitles attached to the video. “For many reasons, even their attendance is enough to make us feel — as liberated Palestinian prisoners — that there is someone who cares about us.”
Jaabis was jailed in Israel from 2015 to 2023 after attempting to set off a car bomb during a traffic stop. The incident occurred near an area where Israeli soldiers would often gather and attempt to hitchhike. Both Jaabis and the Israeli officer, Moshe Chen, were severely burned during the terror attack.
While in prison, Jaabis made headlines for demanding cosmetic surgery on her badly scarred face. She was released in November 2023 in a prisoner exchange as the Israeli government attempted to free hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.
“There are those who are in solidarity with us, those who support us and do not abandon us,” Jaabis said in the video. “Your attendance — in particular as law students — makes us hopeful that there remains some humanity, that there is someone to support us in the future, delivering our message to the international community and amplifying our call to liberate Palestinian prisoners, as well as to liberate societies from servitude and from bigotry which produces populations complicit in perpetrating inhumane laws.”
Critics on X blasted both the event organizers and UC Berkeley itself.
SIGN UP TO GET THE CAMPUS RADICALS NEWSLETTER
“Berkeley being a leftist cesspool is not something that should surprise you,” said one X user.
“Muslims must be laughing at the insane stupidity of the ‘enlightened’ useful idiots here in the West,” said another.
“This stuff keeps me up at night. I don’t understand how the world just rewrites morality to fit it’s political agenda,” said another.
A spokesperson for UC Berkeley Law said the school’s hands were tied.
“As a public university, UC Berkeley has a non-discretionary obligation to abide by and support the First Amendment in a completely content neutral manner,” Alex Shapiro, assistant dean of communications, said. “We do not have the legal ability to sanction or censor Constitutionally protected expression.”
“However, as UC Berkeley has repeatedly informed the student body, if any campus community member feels threatened, they are encouraged to contact the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination. OPHD provides support to those harmed, investigates all allegations, and the campus takes appropriate steps following any findings.”
Latest
WATCH: Trump reveals flashy new color for National Mall’s reflecting pool makeover
President Donald Trump revealed that the flashy new color for the National Mall’s reflecting pool will be familiar to most Americans.
While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office, he said the reflecting pool’s surface is being repainted in “American flag blue.”
When planning the reflecting pool renovation, which Trump said was necessary because it was “filthy,” the president said his original color idea was turquoise, “like in the Bahamas.” But a trusted old pool contractor Trump has worked with in the past convinced him otherwise.
“He said, ‘What color would you like, sir?’ I said, ‘Well, what about turquoise like in the Bahamas?’ He said, ‘Well, this is Washington, sir, we can give you turquoise, but why don’t you try … We have a color, it’s called “American flag blue.” I said, ‘That’s the color I like,’” he narrated.
TRUMP TAPS NEW ARCHITECT TO RESHAPE WHITE HOUSE AS $300M BALLROOM BUILD ACCELERATES
Trump added that, “He talked me into it very easily.”
Fox News Digital reported earlier this month that the president was having the famous Washington, D.C., landmark renovated, saying the Biden administration had neglected it for years.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was working with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on the project, the latest in a series of beautification initiatives targeted by the Trump administration.
“Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and I are working on fixing the absolutely filthy Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument,” Trump wrote.
TRUMP APPEARS ON WHITE HOUSE ROOF AMID TALKS OF HISTORIC RENOVATIONS
“This work was supposed to be done by the Biden Administration, but Sleepy Joe doesn’t know what ‘CLEAN’ or proper maintenance is — The President and Secretary do!” he added.
Speaking in the Oval Office this week, Trump held up a photo of the progress on the pool thus far, saying repairs should be finished in the next three weeks.
“You’re going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool. The way it’s supposed to be. Much better than it ever was, actually.”
TRUMP’S PLAN FOR TRIUMPHAL ARCH MOVES STEP CLOSER TO REALITY
He proceeded to make a poke at the media, saying, “I hope the media can go over and maybe watch them do it because its I think it’s very exciting.”
“Fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time, and you get a better product than you could ever get the other way, and it’ll be beautiful,” he said, adding, “And as he said, it will be American flag blue. Any questions?”
Latest
Highly contagious stomach bug surges in US as some groups face severe effects
→ Highly contagious stomach bug spreads fast, hitting certain patients hardest
→ Woman’s longtime vaping habit leads to terminal lung cancer
→ Your favorite snacks could be quietly wrecking your knees, research suggests
→ Plastic surgeon Dr. Sheila Nazarian speaks about the risks of traveling to other countries for plastic surgery procedures
→ Natural hormone may reduce obesity without cutting calories
→ Common sweetener may trigger fat buildup in ways experts didn’t expect
→ Common eating habit may trigger premature immune system aging
→ ‘Nonnamaxxing’ trend may improve mental and physical health
→ Psychedelic therapy may be coming to your doctor’s office as questions swirl
→ Intermittent fasting’s real benefit may come after you start eating again
-
Latest1 week agoVance Leaves Meeting, Looks Straight Into Camera, Announces Stunning Arrest
-
News1 week agoAdam Schiff Facing 30 Years In Prison After Bank Records Leak
-
News2 weeks agoAll Hell Breaks Loose On Fox When Jesse Watters Asks Fetterman One Question
-
News1 week agoNBC Stops LIVE Broadcast — Breaks Big Trump News
-
Latest1 week agoSupreme Curt Sides With Trump — He Can Remove The All
-
News1 week agoSwalwell Facing Jail Time After Sickening New Video Leaks
-
Latest1 week agoUT Judge Drops Bombshell In Charlie Kirk Killer Case
-
Latest2 weeks agoMelania Gets Huge Surprise 24 Hours After Making Epstein Announcement
