Giant Cretaceous Octopuses Unearthed

0:00It's April 25. You're listening to California News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Kori with the story. Researchers has dropped evidence of colossal octopuses from 100 million years ago in the Lake Cretaceous period. These beasts could stretch up to 60 feet long, bigger than a school bus, making them the largest invertebrates ever found. They proud oceans alongside mosa sores and huge sharks as top predators. The fossils came from northern Japan, hidden inside ancient seafloor rocks, called concretions. A team led by paleontologists, Yasuhiro Iba, sliced them thin, imaged the insides, and built three-dimensional models with AI help. With the uncovered, we're tough octopus jaws, the only hard parts that survive from the soft-bodied giants. Scientists are blown away because octopuses rarely fossilize well with our bones. One expert called it proof of massive octopuses we never expected. The lead author says it highlights how unique these creatures have been evolving for ages.

1:00From the jaws, they figured out the size and diet. These octopuses chomped, shrimp, lobsters, and other crunchy prey, tearing it apart with strong arms. Scratches showed heavy wear, especially on one side, hinting at early smarts like modern octopuses. This paints a wild picture of Cretaceous seas, packed with giant hunters. These shows intelligence and predatory skills ran deep in octopus history, reshaping how we see ancient oceans.