''Proteroctopus'' is an extinct genus of
cephalopod that lived in the
Middle Jurassic, approximately 164 million years ago. It is only known from a single species ''P. ribeti''. The single
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
specimen assigned to this species originates from the
Lower Callovian of
Voulte-sur-Rhône in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. It is currently on display at the Musée de Paléontologie de La Voulte-sur-Rhône.
While originally interpreted as an early
octopus, a 2016 restudy of the specimen considered it to be a basal member of the
Vampyropoda, less closely related to octopus or
vampire squid
The vampire squid (''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', lit. 'vampire squid from hell') is a small cephalopod found throughout temperate and tropical oceans in #Habitat and adaptations, extreme deep sea conditions. The vampire squid uses its Biolumines ...
than either of the two groups are to each other.
A 2022 phylogenetic analysis found it to be more closely related to vampire squid than to octopuses.om the Mississippian Bear Gulch Lagerstätte sheds light on early vampyropod evolution.
A phylogenetic analysis by Kruta et. al indicates that Proteroctopus may be more closely related to the Vampyrpmorpha based on its unique morphology: two fins, head fused to the body, eight arms, two rows of oblique sucker, a gladius and absence of an ink sac.
[
The morphology of ''P. ribeti'' suggests a necto-epipelagic mode of life.]
See also
*''Jeletzkya douglassae
''Jeletzkya douglassae'' is a fossil coleoid from the early Pennsylvanian Mazon Creek lagerstätten and represents the earliest known crown-group squid. Non-mineralized anatomy is preserved and comprises ten hooked tentacles and a radula
Th ...
''
*'' Palaeoctopus newboldi''
*''Vampyronassa rhodanica
''Vampyronassa rhodanica'' ("vampire fish trap") is an extinct vampyromorph cephalopod known from around 20 fossils from the Lower Callovian (165–164 Ma) of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, Ardèche, France.
Morphology
''Vampyronassa'' reached t ...
''
References
External links
The Octopus News Magazine Online: Fossil Octopuses
Octopuses
Prehistoric cephalopod genera
Jurassic animals of Europe
Fossil taxa described in 1982
{{octopus-stub