''Styletoctopus'' is an extinct genus of
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
. The genus consists of the single species ''Styletoctopus annae'', which lived approximately 95 million years ago. Very few octopus species appear in the
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 ...
record, as octopuses consist of soft tissue that usually decomposes before it has time to fossilize.
Rare fossil octopuses found
NBC News, March 18, 2009
See also
*2009 extinct fossil octopus discoveries
Arthropods
Cephalopods
Three new species of extinct Octopoda discovered in 2009. The species – '' Keuppia hyperbolaris'', '' Keuppia levante'', and '' Styletoctopus annae'' – lived about 95 million years ago, and bear a strong resembla ...
References
Octopuses
Prehistoric cephalopod genera
Fossil taxa described in 2009
{{Octopus-stub