2023-08-21 16:33:00
An ancient creature with unique features, including glow-in-the-dark organs, has been discovered by French researchers. With eight tentacles, this animal, a distant relative of the squid, lived 165 million years ago and can help science better understand the evolution of some species.
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the new animal
The discovery took place using modern imaging techniques to analyze fossils belonging to vampyromorpha, an extinct group of octopus-like animals that includes the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis). some differences, according to information from the Live Science.One is that, unlike other “vampire squids”, the animal did not feed on organisms that died from causes other than predation or that were killed by other predators.According to the study published in the journal Papers in PalaeontologyVampyrofugiens atramentum, as it was named, used its tentacles to capture other animals. The creature was about 8 centimeters long, lived in the open ocean and had the ability to light up its organs in the dark, a way to protect itself from predators.
Defense and communication system
According to the study, the animal used these luminous organs to communicate, creating light signals in the dark ocean. In addition, the technique served to imitate the natural light of the surface and to hide from predators. defend itself. This combination of characteristics is present in some modern animals, but has never been recorded in extinct species that lived so many years ago, suggesting that the creatures of that time were much more complex than previously thought.
Importance of discovery
The researchers’ discovery is considered an important advance in understanding the evolution of squids and octopuses. Due to the composition of the bodies of these animals, it is difficult to find preserved fossils for analysis. , specialists were able to preserve fossils of ancient animals. From this, it was possible to understand the structure of these creatures. when the innovations occurred,” said the study’s lead author, Alison Rowe, a doctoral student at the Center for Research in Paleontology in Paris (CR2P).
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