Scientists discover a bizarre Jurassic “squid” unlike anything ever seen

Scientists have identified the “fattest” belemnite ever discovered, a bizarre, barrel-shaped squid relative that lived in Wyoming’s ancient seas 160 million years ago. The exceptionally rare fossils reveal a creature unlike anything previously known, potentially a predator of smaller squid-like animals and a surprising survivor of a supposedly vanished family. Scientists discover a bizarre Jurassic “squid” unlike anything ever seen.

Named Wyoteuthis linsterorum, the prehistoric creature belonged to an extinct group of marine animals known as belemnites, which were related to modern squid and octopuses. What makes this species particularly remarkable is its unusually thick, barrel-shaped internal skeleton, earning it the distinction of being the "chunkiest" or "fattest" belemnite ever identified. An international research team from the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand, including Dr.

Dean Lomax, an Honorary Research Fellow at The University of Manchester, detailed the discovery in the scientific journal Papers in Palaeontology. An Unusually Thick Jurassic Squid Relative Belemnites are among the most frequently discovered fossils in the world. They are best known for their distinctive, bullet-shaped internal skeletal structures, called rostra or guards, which are often the only parts of the animals that survive in the fossil record.