Proteroctopus ribeti
Encyclopedia
Proteroctopus 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 Voulte-sur-Rhône.
The morphology of P. ribeti suggests a necto-epipelagic
mode of life.
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...
that lived in the Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from 176-161 million years ago. In European lithostratigraphy, rocks of this Middle Jurassic age are called the Dogger....
, approximately 164 million years ago. The single fossil specimen assigned to this species originates from the Lower Callovian
Callovian
In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 164.7 ± 4.0 Ma and 161.2 ± 4.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the Oxfordian....
of Voulte-sur-Rhône in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is currently on display at the Musée de Paléontologie de La Voulte-sur-Rhône.
The morphology of P. ribeti suggests a necto-epipelagic
Pelagic zone
Any water in a sea or lake that is not close to the bottom or near to the shore can be said to be in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek πέλαγος or pélagos, which means "open sea". The pelagic zone can be thought of in terms of an imaginary cylinder or water column that goes...
mode of life.
See also
- Jeletzkya douglassae
- Pohlsepia mazonensisPohlsepia mazonensisPohlsepia 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...
- 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....