Overview
- The Science paper, published Thursday, reexamines 27 Late Cretaceous octopus beaks dated to 100–72 million years ago and assigns them to two species, Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyi and N. haggarti.
- Researchers used digital fossil‑mining, which grinds rock layer by layer into high‑resolution images and applies AI to rebuild 3D fossils, to uncover 12 jaws hidden inside Hokkaido stones.
- Size estimates derived from jaw‑to‑body ratios in living octopuses indicate total lengths of roughly 7 to 19 meters, with N. haggarti possibly rivaling large marine reptiles of its time.
- Heavy, scratch‑filled and rounded beak edges point to repeated crushing of hard prey such as shells and bones, and one‑sided wear hints at a feeding side preference seen in modern octopuses.
- Outside experts welcome the finds but urge caution because body sizes come from variable jaw‑to‑body extrapolations and there is no direct evidence like stomach contents or bite marks, so broader sampling and new traces will be key to testing apex‑predator claims.