Triassic kraken
The Triassic kraken is a gigantic ancient cephalopod hypothesized to be responsible for the deaths of Triassic ichthyosaurs belonging the genus Shonisaurus preserved at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada.[1] Vertebral remains from the ichthyosaurs are arranged into almost geometric patterns that resemble the sucker discs on an octopus tentacle, leading to the contention by Mark McMenamin and Dianna L. Schulte McMenamin that the patterns represent Earth's earliest examples of self-portraiture, possibly implying high intelligence in the hypothesized Mesozoic cephalopod. The vertebral centra in the Specimen U sample, for example, are arrayed in a biserial pattern, in an arrangement that differs from their original placement in the shonisaur vertebral column. Hydrodynamic considerations of the site are inconsistent with the hypothesis that currents were responsible for the unusual arrangement of bones.[2]
Some scientists and science writers have criticized the theory, contending that no remains of such gigantic cephalopods have been found at the site and simpler explanations for the bone formations have not been eliminated.[3][2] Mark McMenamin replied that these concerns were neither in accord with the sequence of bone placement nor the hydrodynamics of the site.[4] McMenamin later added: "When you consider that all other explanations for the Ichthyosaur death assemblage have failed, the plausibility goes up. It is currently the leading hypothesis, and none of the critics so far has proposed a fatal or even relatively significant objection." [5]
Mark and Dianna McMenamin presented additional evidence favoring the existence of the hypothesized Kraken on October 31, 2013 at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Denver, Colorado. The new evidence included a second specimen of the Specimen U-type array, and a sharply-tapering fossil of organic, non-mineralized, molluscan material that may represent part of the beak of a giant cephalopod.[6] Commentator David Fastovsky, speaking to the press after the talk, attempted to critique [7] McMenamins' quantitative argument, but Fastovsky neglected to account for the fact that the vertebral array is both hydrodynamically unstable and could not have formed by passive collapse of a vertebral column because the vertebrae are out of order. McMenamin's probabilistic calculations assume currents strong enough to displace individual vertebrae, but the main argument holds even if no currents were present. Adolf Seilacher has noted that this ichthyosaur bone arrangement "has never been observed at other localities" [8]
References
- ↑ McMenamin, M. A. S.; Schulte McMenamin, D. L. (2011). "Triassic Kraken: The Berlin Ichthyosaur death assemblage interpreted as a giant cephalopod midden.". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program 43 (5): 310.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Flatow, Ira (October 14, 2011). "Seeing a Cephalopod in Ancient Bones". NPR Stories. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ↑ Switek, Brian (Oct 10, 2011). "The Giant, Prehistoric Squid That Ate Common Sense". Wired.
- ↑ Flatow, Ira (October 14, 2011). "Seeing a Cephalopod in Ancient Bones". NPR Stories. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ↑ Duhaime-Ross, Arielle (November 3, 2011). "Scientifically Inclined: The haunting Triassic Kraken hypothesis". The Ontarion. University of Guelph. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
- ↑ McMenamin, M. A. S.; McMenamin, Dianna Schulte (2013). "The Kraken's back: New evidence regarding possible cephalopod arrangement of ichthyosaur skeletons". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 43 (5): 87.
- ↑ Pappas, Stephanie (October 31, 2013). "The kraken rises! New fossil evidence revives sea monster debate". NBC News Science. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
- ↑ McMenamin, M. A. S. (2012). "Evidence for a Triassic Kraken: Unusual arrangement of bones at Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada". 21st Century Science and Technology 24 (4): 55–58.