Pohlsepia mazonensis
Encyclopedia
Pohlsepia mazonensis is the earliest described octopod
, dated at approximately 296 million years old. The species is known from a single exceptionally preserved fossil discovered in the Pennyslvanian Francis Creek Shale of the Carbondale Formation, NE Illinois
, USA.
Pohlsepia mazonensis is named after its discoverer, James Pohl, and the type locality
, Mazon Creek. Its habitat
was the shallows seawards of a major river delta
in what at that time was an inland ocean between the Midwest and the Appalachians.
The type specimen is deposited at the Field Museum of Natural History
in Chicago
, Illinois
.
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
, dated at approximately 296 million years old. The species is known from a single exceptionally preserved fossil discovered in the Pennyslvanian Francis Creek Shale of the Carbondale Formation, NE Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, USA.
Pohlsepia mazonensis is named after its discoverer, James Pohl, and the type locality
Type locality (geology)
Type locality , also called type area or type locale, is the where a particular rock type, stratigraphic unit, fossil or mineral species is first identified....
, Mazon Creek. Its habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
was the shallows seawards of a major river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
in what at that time was an inland ocean between the Midwest and the Appalachians.
The type specimen is deposited at the Field Museum of Natural History
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex known as the Museum Campus Chicago...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
See also
- Jeletzkya douglassae
- Proteroctopus ribetiProteroctopus ribetiProteroctopus ribeti was a primitive octopod that lived in the Middle Jurassic, approximately 164 million years ago. The single fossil specimen assigned to this species originates from the Lower Callovian of Voulte-sur-Rhône in France. It is currently on display at the Musée de Paléontologie de La...
- Palaeoctopus newboldiPalaeoctopus newboldiPalaeoctopus newboldi was a primitive octopod that lived in the Late Cretaceous, approximately 89 to 71 million years ago. Fossil material assigned to this species originates from the Mount Hajoula region in Lebanon. The holotype was found below the Old Covent, Sahel-el-Alma, Mount Lebanon and is...
- Vampyronassa rhodanicaVampyronassa rhodanicaVampyronassa rhodanica is an extinct vampyromorph cephalopod known from around 20 fossils from the Lower Callovian of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, Ardèche, France....