Pohlsepia mazonensis
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| Pohlsepia mazonensis Fossil range: Pennsylvanian |
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 Photograph and drawing of holotype.
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Fossil
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| Pohlsepia mazonensis Kluessendorf & Doyle, 2000 |
Pohlsepia mazonensis is the earliest described octopod, dated at approximately 296[verification needed] 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.[1]
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.[1]
The type specimen is deposited at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.[1]
[edit] See also
- Jeletzkya douglassae
- Proteroctopus ribeti
- Palaeoctopus newboldi
- Vampyronassa rhodanica
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Kluessendorf, J. & P. Doyle 2000. Pohlsepia mazonensis, an early 'octopus' from the Carboniferous of Illinois, USA. Palaeontology 43(5): 919-926. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00155 PDF fulltext
