 |
"Long
before it's in the papers"
January 27, 2015
RETURN TO THE WORLD SCIENCE HOME PAGE
Did a sea monster make an artwork… out of bones?
Oct. 10, 2011
Courtesy of the Geological Society of America
and World
Science staff
In one of the strangest theories to find its way out of the staid world of paleontology in a long time, researchers claim a gigantic
prehistoric octopus may have made a jigsaw-puzzle-like artwork out of its victims’ bones. Fossilized shonisaur
vertebrae at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada.
(Courtesy Mark McMenamin)
As if that weren’t enough to raise eyebrows, there is more. According to the theory, the victims were not just anyone, but giant sea monsters in
their own right—a tribute to the truly staggering size of the sticky assailant.
Had enough? But there is even more. The artwork was, it would seem, not just any old doodle, but a sort of Triassic self-portrait.
A husband-and-wife research team is presenting the proposal to explain the neat, almost systematic arrangement of bones in a sea reptile fossil that has puzzled scientists for over half a century.
“We’re ready” for the skeptical questioning to begin, said geologist and paleontologist Mark McMenamin of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, who conducted the new research with his wife, Dianna Schulte-McMenamin, also of the college.
They admit their case is circumstantial, but they point to evidence including modern cases of octopuses killing sharks; various feats of octopus intelligence; the fact that octopuses commonly leave piles of shells and bones in their dens from consumed prey; and the observation that they sometimes manipulate such remains.
They are presenting their proposal Oct. 10 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis.
Around 200 million to 250 million years ago, the so-called Triassic period, predatory, dinosaur-like reptiles called ichthyosaurs prowled the oceans. Nine fossils of these beasts, about as long as school buses, lie at
Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada.
They have a long history of perplexing researchers, including the world’s expert on the site, the late Charles Lewis Camp of the University of California at Berkeley. “Camp puzzled over these fossils in the 1950s,” said McMenamin. “In his papers he keeps referring to how peculiar this site is. We agree—it is peculiar.”
Camp speculated that the beasts had died from an accidental stranding or a toxic plankton bloom. But
these scenarios are associated with shallow water, and more recent work on the surrounding rocks suggests
the water was
deep, McMenamin notes.
When McMenamin and his daughter visited the fossils at the remote state park, “it became very clear that something very odd was going on,” said McMenamin. “It was a very odd configuration of bones.” Evidence suggested the shonisaurs weren’t all buried at the same time, he said. More strangely, it looked like the bones had been purposefully rearranged. That got him thinking about a modern predator known for this sort of intelligent manipulation of bones. “Modern octopus will do this,” McMenamin said.
McMenamin likens the proposed ancient octopus to the legendary “kraken,” an octopus-like sea monster with arms the length of ships and claimed to have prowled off the coast of Norway in the 1750s. The prehistoric animal must have been twice the length of the shonisaurs to kill them, he contends.
In the fossil bed, some of the shonisaur vertebrae are arranged in curious patterns with almost geometric regularity, McMenamin noted: the vertebrae are in double line patterns, with pieces nesting in a fitted way as though part of a puzzle.
The proposed Triassic kraken “could have been the most intelligent invertebrate ever,” say the researchers in their report. Even creepier: The arranged vertebrae resemble the pattern of sucker discs on an octopus tentacle, with each vertebra strongly resembling a sucker. In other words, the vertebral disc “pavement” seen at the state park “may represent the earliest known self portrait,” the report adds.
Could an octopus really have taken out such huge predatory reptiles? No one would have believed it until the Seattle Aquarium set up a videocamera at night a few years ago to find out what was killing the sharks in one of their tanks, McMenamin argues. The aquarium staff was shocked to learn an octopus was the culprit.
Video of one of these attacks
is online.
The “Triassic kraken” was probably “doing the same thing,” said McMenamin. Among the pieces of evidence, he adds, are many more ribs broken in the shonisaur fossils than would seem accidents
could explain, and a large number of twisted necks. “It was either drowning them or breaking their
necks,” he adds, remarking on how the supposed killings might have
been carried out.
Of course, it’s the perfect Triassic crime because octopuses are mostly soft-bodied and don’t fossilize well. Only their
small mouth parts are hard. So there is no physical evidence of an attacker. But McMenamin said he isn’t worried: “we have a very good case.”
* * *
Send us a comment
on this story, or send
it to a friend
|
||||
|
|
In what must be one of the strangest theories to find its way out of the staid world of paleontology in a long time, researchers claim a gigantic octopus millions of years ago may have made a jigsaw-puzzle-like artwork out of its victims’ bones. As if that weren’t enough to raise eybrows, there is more. According to the theory, the victims were not just anyone, but giant sea monsters in its own right—a tribute to the truly staggering size of the sticky assailant. Had enough? But there is even more. The artwork was, it would seem, not just any old doodle, but a sort of Triassic self-portrait. A husband-and-wife research team is presenting the proposal to explain the neat, almost systematic arrangement of bones in a sea reptile fossil that has puzzled scientists for over half a century. “We’re ready” for the skeptical questioning to begin, said geologist and paleontologist Mark McMenamin of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, who conducted the new research with his wife, Dianna Schulte-McMenamin, also of the college. They admit their case is circumstantial, but they point to evidence including modern cases of octopuses killing sharks; various feats of octopus intelligence; the fact that octopuses commonly leave piles of shells and bones in their dens from consumed prey; and the observation that they sometimes manipulate such remains. They are presenting their proposal Oct. 10 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis. Around 200 million to 250 million years ago, the so-called Triassic period, predatory, dinosaur-like reptiles called ichthyosaurs prowled the oceans. Nine fossils of these beasts, about as long as school buses, lie at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada. They have a long history of perplexing researchers, including the world’s expert on the site, the late Charles Lewis Camp of the University of California at Berkeley. “Camp puzzled over these fossils in the 1950s,” said McMenamin. “In his papers he keeps referring to how peculiar this site is. We agree—it is peculiar.” Camp speculated that the beasts had died from an accidental stranding or a toxic plankton bloom. But no one has proven the water was shallow, and more recent work on the surrounding rocks suggest it was deep, McMenamin notes. When the McMenamin and his daughter visited the fossils at the remote state park, “it became very clear that something very odd was going on,” said McMenamin. “It was a very odd configuration of bones.” Evidence sugested the shonisaurs weren’t all buried at the same time, he said. More strangely, it looked like the bones had been purposefully rearranged. That it got him thinking about a modern predator known for this sort of intelligent manipulation of bones. “Modern octopus will do this,” McMenamin said. McMenamin likens the proposed ancient octopus to the legendary “kraken,” an octopus-like sea monster with arms the length of ships and claimed to have prowled off the coast of Norway in the 1750s. The prehistoric animal must have been twice the length of the shonisaurs to kill them, he contends. In the fossil bed, some of the shonisaur vertebral disks are arranged in curious patterns with almost geometric regularity, McMenamin noted: the vertebral discs are in double line patterns, with individual pieces nesting in a fitted way as though part of a puzzle. The proposed Triassic kraken “could have been the most intelligent invertebrate ever,” say the researchers in their report. Even creepier: The arranged vertebrae resemble the pattern of sucker discs on an octopus tentacle, with each vertebra strongly resembling a sucker. In other words, the vertebral disc “pavement” seen at the state park “may represent the earliest known self portrait,” the report adds. Could an octopus really have taken out such huge predatory reptiles? No one would have believed it until the Seattle Aquarium set up a video camera at night a few years ago to find out what was killing the sharks in one of their tanks, McMenamin argues. The aquarium staff was shocked to learn an octopus was the culprit. Video of one of these attacks can be found online by using the search terms “shark vs octopus.” The “Triassic kraken” was probably “doing the same thing,” said McMenamin. Among the pieces of evidence, he adds, are many more ribs broken in the shonisaur fossils than would seem accidental and the twisted necks. “It was either drowning them or breaking their necks.” Of course, it’s the perfect Triassic crime because octopuses are mostly soft-bodied and don’t fossilize well. Only their mouth parts are hard. That means the evidence for the murderous Kraken is circumstantial, which may leave some scientists skeptical. But McMenamin said he isn’t worried: “we have a very good case.”