An international research team has described a previously unknown species of belemnite, an extinct marine animal related to modern squid and octopuses, based on two fossil specimens discovered in Wyoming. Named Wyoteuthis linsterorum, the creature lived during the Jurassic Period approximately 160 million years ago. The research was published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology and involved collaborators from institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
The defining characteristic of this species is its unusually thick, barrel-shaped internal skeleton, making it the most robust belemnite ever identified. While typical belemnite fossils from the Sundance Formation in Wyoming measure between 5 and 10 centimeters long and only 1 to 2 centimeters wide, Wyoteuthis linsterorum’s internal skeletal structure reached approximately 10 centimeters in length but expanded to 6 centimeters in width. Scientists estimate the living animal, including its arms, could have reached approximately 60 centimeters in total length. The unusual proportions may have provided advantages when hunting smaller belemnites, as modern squid species readily consume other cephalopods.
The discovery spanned nearly three decades. Paleontologist Burkhard Pohl first found a specimen in the late 1990s, though it remained unstudied in a museum collection. A breakthrough occurred when fossil collector Cliff Linster discovered a second specimen near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, and donated it to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in 2019. With two comparable examples available, researchers could formally recognize and describe the new species. Computed tomography scanning revealed unexpected connections to an ancient belemnite family previously thought to have disappeared millions of years earlier.
The species name honors the Linster family for their contributions to paleontology. Linster passed away in June before the research publication, though he had been aware of the ongoing investigation and supportive of the discovery’s formal recognition. The naming also reflects the creature’s origin in Wyoming, with the genus name Wyoteuthis meaning “a squid from Wyoming.”
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI