Giant 62-Foot Kraken Octopus Was Ocean's Top Predator During Dinosaur Era
Scientists discovered that giant octopuses up to 62 feet long ruled the oceans during the age of dinosaurs. The massive sea creatures, nicknamed "krakens," were the true apex predators of ancient seas. Researchers studied 27 fossil jaws from finned octopuses to make this discovery.
Giant octopuses the size of school buses dominated ancient oceans when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, new research shows. These massive sea monsters stretched up to 62 feet long and ruled as apex predators during the Cretaceous period.
Scientists made the discovery by studying 27 fossil jaws from finned octopuses. The research challenges the long-held belief that all top ocean predators from that era were vertebrates like marine reptiles and giant sharks.
These ancient "krakens" would have been nearly twice the size of some estimates for mythological sea monsters. They likely hunted other large sea creatures, including school bus-sized ichthyosaurs that had fearsome teeth but still fell prey to these giant cephalopods.
The octopus family tree goes back much further than previously known. Some octopus ancestors existed about 330 million years ago, even before the age of dinosaurs began. This shows these intelligent invertebrates have been major players in ocean ecosystems for hundreds of millions of years.
This discovery rewrites what we know about ancient ocean life and shows that some of the most fearsome prehistoric predators weren't the giant sharks or marine reptiles we usually think of. It reveals how diverse and surprising ancient sea life really was.
Scientists will likely search for more octopus fossils to learn about their hunting behavior and ocean dominance.
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