abbyhoward
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Ancient beasts-- Cephalopods edition
🕑 Added 2018-03-23 14:19:51 +0000 UTC Sorry for the long wait for more invertebrates! But finally, here are some amazing and strange cephalopods to brighten your day.Cephalopods are the group that contains modern squids, octopus, and cuttlefish, and they are a very old group, having gotten their start possibly as far back as the Cambrian (the dawn of animal life in the oceans). That means they predate starfish! I don't know if that's amazing to you, but it is to me for some reason. Cephalopods all used to have these big chunky shells, as you can see, but the only modern cephalopods with shells are the nautilus and the cuttlefish, which have an internal shell. The rest are squish all the way through.
The guys up at the top (lituites and cameroceras) are types of orthocones, which had long straight shells. They're the oldest group here, having ruled the Ordovician seas (the Ordovician is the time right after the Cambrian, so that was a whiiiile ago.) Cameroceras was really really big, possibly 20 ft, which is impressive considering how soon after the dawn of all animal life it evolved! Life got busy QUICK. Animals meant BUSINESS
The rest of the creatures in this post are ammonoids from the Cretaceous period (aka, the end of the dinosaur times). Ammonoids are related to the nautiloids, like the modern nautilus, and are known for their spiral shells. Sometimes. Sometimes instead they have shells that are total nonsense.
I think I will forever regret not putting Parapuzosia in Dinosaur Empire, it's so cool but I hadn't learned about it until I was already on the coloring stage of the book! But at least I can tell you folks about it. And all of its weird pals, like the trombone that was given life (diplomoceras) and the shape your headphones make when you put them in your pocket but with a face (nipponites).
Also, if you wanna see some incredible art of ancient cephalopods, check out this poster by Franz Anthony, one of my top favorite paleo illustrators. Everything Franz makes is breathtaking.
ALSO, I will be switching to big monthly posts like this from here on out, for both the paleo posts and the journal comics. It's a lot easier for me to keep up with a big monthly post than weekly, especially considering all the con traveling and extra projects I have ahead of me. Plus, the chunks are... satisfying.
Thank you so much for your incredible support, and I hope I have brightened your day with these strange organisms,
-Abby
Comments
Richard Bennett
Ah, so Belemnites were more like cuttlefish? Nice. Back when I studied fossils no-one talked much about the soft parts (it was 30 years ago so maybe we just hadn't found the fossils?)
Abby Howard
Yep! Belemnites had internal shells, while orthocones had external shells.
Deb with the purple bike
My 5-year-old daughter is going to FREAK OUT when she learns there used to be giant nautilus-looking creatures. She is enchanted by nautiluses and gleefully points them out whenever they show up in Dinosaur Empire! (Which we are on our 10th+ reading of at bedtime, BTW.)
Richard Bennett
So are orthocones different from belemnites? And I had no idea about the variety of crazy shaped ammonoids at all!
Levi
Nipponites are SO GOOD I love those piles
Rachel Walker
Ammonites are my fav. Right after Trilobites, that is.
Andy West
Those look like Ito Junji’s Spiral had a weekend binge. A millions-year-long one.
