First discovery of the soft-body imprint of an Oligocene fossil squid indicates its piscivorous diet
Abstract
The first well-preserved soft-body imprint of a fossil squid was discovered from the Lower Oligocene of the Krasnodar region, Russia. The squid is perfectly preserved, with many details of its body available for study, such as imprints of eyes and head, a pair of statoliths, jaws, and stomach contents. Statoliths of this squid are the first finds of in situ statoliths in fossil non-belemnoid coleoids, and their shape is characteristic of the genus Loligo (family Loliginidae). Although some Mesozoic coleoids were previously classified as teuthids, these finds remain controversial and the squid described herein is the first unquestionable representative of fossil Teuthida known to date. It should be noted that the squid is preserved not due to phosphatization, which is typical for fossil coleoids, but by pyritization and carbonization. Numerous fish remains in the stomach contents of the squid indicate its piscivorous diet. A small cutlassfish Anenchelum angustum, which was buried together with the squid and whose bones are located near the squid's jaws, sheds light on the circumstances of the death of this animal. Most likely, the squid suffocated in the anoxic bottom waters, where it drowned along with its last prey (distraction sinking).
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The first soft-tissue squid was also found in non-phosphatic sites further corroborating the interaction between preservation and the chemistry of the physiology.
“The first soft-tissue squid was also found in non-phosphatic sites further corroborating the interaction between preservation and the chemistry of the physiology (Mironenko et al., 2021).”
From Probability-based preservational variations within the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota (China) (2022) · cites this paper as Mironenko et al., 2021
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- Authors
- Mironenko, A. A., Boiko, M. S., Bannikov, A. F., Arkhipkin, A. I., Bizikov, V. A., & Košťák, M.
- Affiliations
- Geological Institute (RU)
- Institute of Paleontology A A Borisyak (RU)
- Borissiak Paleontological Institute of RAS, Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow, 117647, Russia;
- Falkland Islands Fisheries Department (FK)
- All-Russian Research Institute Fisheries and Oceanography (RU)
- Charles University (CZ)
- Corresponding author
- Mironenko, Aleksandr A.
- Venue
- Lethaia
- Publisher
- Scandinavian University Press
- Published
- 2021-12
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 793-805
- ISSN
- 0024-1164 (ISSN-L)
- 1502-3931
- OpenAlex
- W3189350646
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Lethaia (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Cephalopods and Marine Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Keywords
- Oligocene, Teuthida, Coleoidea, Loligo, statoliths, stomach contents, pyritization, carbonization, anoxic bottom water, Krasnodar Krai
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