The first known cephalopod was only a millimetre long and lived about 520 million years ago
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TL;DR - Fossils of the millimetre-sized Eoceras indicate that cephalopods existed around 520 million years ago, earlier than previously established.
- Eoceras possessed a siphuncle, a structure used by modern cephalopods for buoyancy control.
- The fossils date to the early Cambrian.
- The discovery identifies the earliest known cephalopod and pushes the group’s origins further back in time.
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The first known cephalopod was only a millimetre long and lived about 520 million years ago
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TL;DR - Fossils of the millimetre-sized Eoceras indicate that cephalopods existed around 520 million years ago, earlier than previously established.
- Eoceras possessed a siphuncle, a structure used by modern cephalopods for buoyancy control.
- The fossils date to the early Cambrian.
- The discovery identifies the earliest known cephalopod and pushes the group’s origins further back in time.