You don’t want to end up in the arms of this ancient squid – related to the still-living vampire squid.
This species of squid lives at incredible depths, in waters poor in oxygen. They mainly eat floating organic particles. Both the vampire squid and its ancestors are – or were – made of soft tissue.
It is hard to find as a stone. However, the researchers got their hands on a few. From ancient relatives, who lived about 200 million years ago. It was only 10 cm long, with 8 arms, an oval-shaped body and 2 fins.
Using the latest technology, they were able to extract new information from the fossils. The pistons in particular—which were already in place at the time—were impressively powerful, and the nerves needed to spot prey weren’t bad either. Despite the small size of the animal, she did not like to come across as a fish.
No, take today’s vampire squid, whose name comes from the color of its skin and the head-like webs between its tentacles. She fully embraced the life drenched in the deep sea with all eight of her tentacles.
Read more: Sucked to be prey to ancient cephalopods†
