95M-Year-Old Octopus Fossils Discovered

mmmscience writes "A new study published in Paleontology 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. '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."'"

Comments

Evolution

[VisceralLogic]

Apparently the octopus is the pinnacle of evolution! I for one welcome our new multipodal overlords!

Re:Evolution

[SIR_Taco]

Oh yea?!
Well if their so great...
Just a second I've a knock at the door, well eight knocks to be precise...
Oh, hello, well no I-

Retract the pods! Prepare to jump.

[girlintraining]

These things are 95 million years old, yet one of the fossils is almost indistinguishable from living species.

It doesn't evolve for 95 million years? It could have been a government octopus.

Re:Retract the pods! Prepare to jump.

[sakdoctor]

Which arm of government?

Re:Retract the pods! Prepare to jump.

[Red Flayer]

Who cares which arm?

They're all full of suckers.

Re:Retract the pods! Prepare to jump.

[n3tcat]

And they all hide behind a lot of ink.

German spelling and pronunciation . . .

[PolygamousRanchKid]

is actually really easy and has only two really simple rules:

• Everything is spelled as it is pronounced.
• Everything is pronounced as it is spelled.

How can you beat that? If you can hear it, you can spell it, and if you can spell it you can speak it. I am fluent in German, although it is a foreign language for me. I never make a spelling mistake in German, but in English, my native language, I am error prone.

And folks wonder why they can build such great cars.

And you can build great sentences, with the same word six times in a row:

"Wenn hinter Fliegen Fliegen fleigen, Fliegen fliegen Fliegen nach." (When flies fly behind flies, flies fly after flies)

Re:German spelling and pronunciation . . .

[Plunky]

And you can build great sentences, with the same word six times in a row:

"Wenn hinter Fliegen Fliegen fleigen, Fliegen fliegen Fliegen nach." (When flies fly behind flies, flies fly after flies)

Sure, and you can do that in english too:

Wouldn't the sentence "I want to put a hyphen between the words Fish and and and and and Chips in my 'Fish and Chips' sign" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before Fish, and between Fish and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and and, and and and Chips, as well as after Chips?

Re:German spelling and pronunciation . . .

[beav007]

You're doing it wrong. It's actually "Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Mushroom Mushroom"

It's dead

[Tubal-Cain]

These things are 95 million years old, yet one of the fossils is almost indistinguishable from living species.

Except, you know, for the fact that one is a rock and the other can only imitate the appearance of a rock.

Re:ok slashdot

[oldhack]

So this cthulhu walks into a bar, right, and...

Hey, anyone remember how this one goes? Damn, this over-22 thing is a drag...