Keuppia
Extinct genus of octopuses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Keuppia is an extinct genus of octopus.
| Keuppia Temporal range: Late Cenomanian | |
|---|---|
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| K. levante | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Octopoda |
| Family: | †Palaeoctopodidae |
| Genus: | †Keuppia Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009 |
| Species | |
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Taxonomy
It consists of two species, Keuppia hyperbolaris and Keuppia levante, both of which lived approximately 95 million years ago.[1] Both species were found in fossilized form, which is very uncommon for extinct octopuses, as the soft tissue of dead octopuses almost always disintegrates before it has a chance to fossilize.[2] These fossils, along with those of the genus Styletoctopus, were found from the Cretaceous-age Hâqel and Hjoula localities in Lebanon. The presence of a gladius vestige in this genus shows a transition from squid to octopus in which the inner shell has divided in two in early forms to eventually be reduced to lateralized stylets, as can be seen in Styletoctopus.
