N.L. fossil discovery could be oldest known octopus ancestors, scientists say

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    TORONTO, Ontario (CTV Network) — Researchers have discovered in Newfoundland and Labrador what they believe could be the oldest-known ancestors of octopuses and squids.

Earth scientists from Heidelberg University in Germany recently discovered several cone-shaped fossilized shells at Bacon Cove on the southwestern side of Conception Bay in N.L.

The research, published last week in Communications Biology, notes the fossils date back 522 million years, which would make them 30 million years older than the oldest known cephalopods, the class of fish that includes squids, octopuses and cuttlefish.

“This find is extraordinary,” Gregor Austermann from Heidelberg University’s Department of Geosciences and co-head of the research project, said in a news release. “In scientific circles it was long suspected that the evolution of these highly developed organisms had begun much earlier than hitherto assumed, but there was a lack of fossil evidence to back up this theory.”

The scientists believe that because the shells resemble other early discoveries, but also have distinct differences, there could be a link between the discovery in Newfoundland and current cephalopods, meaning these fossils would be ancestors to the modern cephalopods.

“If they should actually be cephalopods, we would have to backdate the origin of cephalopods into the early Cambrian period,” said Anne Hildenbrand from Heidelberg University’s Institute of Earth Sciences and co-head of the research projects. “That would mean that cephalopods emerged at the very beginning of the evolution of multicellular organisms during the Cambrian explosion.”

The researchers add that more study needs to be conducted in the area, which will hopefully yield better-preserved fossils that could confirm their discovery.

“We are aware that an unequivocal cephalopod assignment of the specimens described and discussed here must await future findings of better-preserved material less affected by diagenesis,” the researchers wrote in the study.

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