.jpg)
One of the amazing fossils. Courtesy Dirk Fuchs
Octopods (or octopi) have been making waves in the news lately. From the frisky female who flooded an aquarium in California to the recent video of one squeezing itself through an inch-wide hole, there seems to be a surge of interest in the creatures. And it's no wonder, really, as they are among the most uniquely fascinating animals on the planet. Wickedly smart with a one-of-a-kind body shape, scientists are striving to discover just how these animals have become so intelligent.
That is no easy task, though. Because octopods lack a rigid skeleton structure, there are very few fossils to shed light on their evolution. In fact, "the chances of an octopus corpse surviving long enough to be fossilized are so small that prior to this discovery only a single fossil species was known, and from fewer specimens than octopuses have legs." [EurekAlert]
So the new study published in a recent copy of Palaeontology is a truly terrific find. Not only did a group of European scientists find a fossilized octopus, they found five complete fossils that show all eight legs in great detail, including a ghost of the characteristic suckers. The discovery of the 95-million-year-old specimens was made in Lebanon, where the "extraordinary soft-part preservation in the Lebanon limestones" [original paper] managed to save the entire impression of the ancient octopods. They consist of three new species, and there was even traces of of the octopods' ink found as well.
.JPG)
What is truly astonishing to the scientists is how similar these ancient creatures are to their modern-day counterparts. Dirk Fuchs, lead author on the study stated, "These things are 95 million years old, yet one of the fossils is almost indistinguishable from living species." [EurekAlert] The fossils provide an extraordinary glimpse into the evolutionary history of the creatures, pushing back the birth of the modern octopus millions of years.
The fact that these fossils exist is a small miracle of science and a big victory for paleontologists and evolutionist alike.
Comments
"Octopuses"!
wow, prehistoric shuttlecocks!
(joking aside, thats cool)
"Octopodes"!
I am not sure how it is a "victory" for evolutionists. It only shows that a species has been stable for a very long time. I'd sya it is more of a mystery for the evolutionist.
I think you mean "Palaeontology".
I do indeed mean Palaeontology. Thanks for catching that...
Nooooooooo, Great Cthulhu, what went wrong?!
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
"What is truly astonishing to the scientists is how similar these ancient creatures are to their modern-day counterparts."
Creationist ammo, assuming the dating was innacurate of course ;), or further proof that the world is billions of years old? It makes me wonder what he thought of it.
In your final sentence, you state "big victory for paleontologists and evolutionist alike" which I find amusing considering the finding of a species which is "almost indistinguishable from living species" does little to support evolution theory as one would think if the Octopi were in an evolved state at this period of time there would be far more distinguishing characteristics between ancient and modern examples of the species.
Every new fossil find is a small victory for evolutionary biology, an incremental increase in our understanding of the history of the world.
There's nothing mysterious about finding species that are stable over time. The octopod family is very successful, numerous, and found in habitats all over the world. And it's nowhere near as old a lineage as, for example, the horseshoe crab.
"if the Octopi were in an evolved state at this period of time"
What do you even mean, "an evolved state"? There's no such thing as an "evolved state," there's only the ongoing process of evolution.
As I said, evolutionary theory would most likely predict a slow evolutionary rate for the octopod lineage, which successfully exploits very stable underwater environments.
Look, I am not trying to start an argument espousing one theory over another at this point. What I am trying to point out is that given the information provided in the article, jumping to the conclusion of the support of any origin theory is really a reach.
Oh and yes Theo, I should have watched my semantics much more closely in a minefield-rich topic such as this as there are always those who immediately go after semantics and stated "a more evolved state currently"...
I can has lolz now? Hehe
6 * 10^3 << 95 * 10^6
""What is truly astonishing to the scientists is how similar these ancient creatures are to their modern-day counterparts."
Creationist ammo, assuming the dating was innacurate of course ;), or further proof that the world is billions of years old? It makes me wonder what he thought of it.""
There are creationists that think the world is 7 thousand years old (or whatever).
However there is NO PLACE in the Bible were this is stated. ZERO. Anybody who tells that the Bible says the earth is 7 thousand or 10 thousand or 700 thousand is delusional. It simply does not exist.
(paraphrasing here:) In the beginning the earth was void and without form.
For something to be void and without form it has to freaking exist first.
And since the Bible is a spiritual item it's going to be talking about people, souls, life, etc etc. To be void and without form means without meaning or purpose.
Pretty much a ice age. Very little life. No/little human society or awareness.
It is much more easy to interpret in that manner then to say that "void and without form" is the same as "simply nothing existed until 7 thousand years ago".
The tree of knowledge is the human nervous system.
Care to take bets on how long ago human civilization took off?
In the Bible god created live and whatnot in 7 days. 6 'god' days, which isn't what our days are (and is documented elsewere in the bible).
God rested on the 7th.
On the _eighth_ he created Adam and Eve. You see people already existed PRIOR to Adam and Eve. You can see proof of this when Cain is banished off and a mark is placed on his head so that he isn't harmed by other people. Who else is there is Adam and Eve were the originators of the entire species?
Oh, and nowhere in the book of genesis is there a Apple. No apple at all. Apple is made up for kindergarten kids becuase "fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil" is too difficult of a concept for kids to get.
And look at the reason why Adam and Eve were created. God needed people to work the land and be farmers, more or less. People before that were more hunters and gatherers.
That's what it says in the darn bible anyways. If you want to disagree with me first read it and see were I am getting these ideas. It's all there.
So, going by the Bible:
1. No Apple. Fruit of the Tree of good and evil. The nervous system is shaped like a tree. Loss of innocence is the consiquence of eating the fruit that gave humans knowledge of good and evil. Animals, for example, do not have knowledge of good and evil, they simply exist by mostly instinct and learned behavior and are innocent. Humans are not innocent.
2. Adam and Eve were not created on the 6th day. The human species was created long time prior to Adam and Eve ever happenning.
3. Adam and Even corrispond to the advent of argiculture since God created them to manage the land.
4. It also corrisponds to the early roots of human civilization since agriculture is a core requirement for settlement.
Anybody care to tell me how long ago did perminent human settlements appear and evidence of orginized farming appears?
Hmmm.... Times line up quite a bit better with that interpretation.
--------------------------
So the so-called 'creationists' are actually aas ignorant of the Bible as much as they are of science. It's just people's traditions and generation-long misconceptions that make them think that Adam and Eve ate a Apple to make God angry, that the Bible says the universe is x thousands of years old, etc etc.
What is amazing is that these people get so much air time and are allowed to present their viewpoints as 'hard core' christianity or something equally bizzare.
------------------------------
Anyways.
The Bible itself does reference events that happenned PRIOR to Genesis. Several times.
You may or may not beleive that the Bible is truth or fiction, but saying that it says the universe is x thousand years old is very very shaky wheither you beleive the bible or not. It's there. If you don't beleive me get a good old King James Bible that is a interpreted directly from Hebrew text and see for yourself.
"I am not sure how it is a "victory" for evolutionists. It only shows that a species has been stable for a very long time. I'd sya it is more of a mystery for the evolutionist."
It only shows that the body plan is stable, it could of taken millions of years just to get to the fossils design plan. To make assumptions based on a the last line of an article is just silly.
You can find perfect examples of maple, and ginko leaves, laminated in million(s) year old sedimentary rock, thats not an argument for creation, but an argument for a well evolved design that stands the test of time.
If you can't grasp your mind around numbers like million, billion, or even hundred thousand, maybe you should stick with the Bible, it should keep your mind satisfied, while the grown ups tackle the real issues.
when a creationist dies from antibiotic-resistant infection, is it irony of fate?
Wow! Those fossils are 20 million years older than the Evil Lord Xenu!
Duh! I see live octopus every weekend here in Hawaii: always knew they were cool, bright, wonderful and totally amazing! Glad to know they've always been that way!
sorry, but creationism just as plausible as a flying spaghetti monster. What makes you think your bible is better then the Hindu or Buddhist tomes anyway? The bible is myth. Species evolve. That's all there is to it. And here's the proof, if god created the world, what created god?
Octopongles!
Sorry Meg and others it's not octopi, octopus is the singular, as it is taken from the Greek not Latin.
Nater, your right, the Bible does not say apple, but it does say fruit. How many days are in a week? 7. How many days did God take to make the light and dark, the water, land, and sky, the stars, moon, planets, animals, and the heavens and the earth? 6. god rested on the seventh day. Which made it the Sabbath Day, the day to rest. The other 6 are work days. And the tree of knowledge is so not the human nervous system. Sure it is shaped like a tree but that is it. No similarities or relationships. that is comparing two, completely, different things.
To sorry- God is immortal. Since the scientists say that there was a Big Bang that created the universe, then what created the "Big Bang"? What made the "big Bang" Bang? What is the link, or the connection, Between animals and humans? (Oh yeah monkeys are so the dominant species today). Where is that proof. The Bible tells the truth, and only the Truth. That is the way it is.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!