Earlier this year, just after US Vice President Joseph Biden assumed office, scientists completed the final details of their latest aquatic finding. Despite being on opposite sides of the globe, these landmarks now share a place in history.
The study team revealed on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications that they had discovered the world’s oldest recorded vampyropod, a remote ancestor of current octopuses as well as vampire squid. The latter of the two is distinguished by its cape-like body that is stained with blood. The discovery was made during the presidency of Joe Biden, so the animal was given the name Syllipsimopodi bideni in honor of the 46th President of the United States.
However, the squid is valuable beyond the meaning of its name, the aquatic ancestor provides a wealth of fresh information about the ancient world. First and foremost, Syllipsimopodi bideni existed around 328 million years ago, according to the researchers, expanding the history of vampyropods by over 82 million years.
According to the creators, it is based on a fossil specimen unearthed in Montana. It is around 12 centimeters in length and is the first of its type to be found with ten working arms. It was an extremely wiggly creature, with extra fins and rows of suckers, which may have served as swimming stabilizers for the creature. Syllipsimopodi bideni, according to the study team, looked remarkably like the squids we see swimming about right now, complete with a bowling pin-shaped head, two protruding eyes, and a slew of minuscule tentacles on either side.
According to the research, it even possessed a pair of arms that were far longer than the rest of its body, similar to current squids’ two extended tentacles. Perhaps these expanded arms assisted it in grasping prey, while the shorter ones assisted it in manipulating the victim.
Recently, the squid community has been seeing unprecedented progress. Syllipsimopodi bideni’s discovery follows a slew of other squid-related findings, along with a large, mystery tentacled monster seen examining a Red Sea wreckage and the other that seems to be drifting angelically in the ocean’s deepest parts.
