‘Muscular Suckers’ That Are Neither Squids Nor Vampires Revealed in New Analysis

A new analysis of remarkably well-preserved fossils of a tiny cephalopod called Vampyronassa rhodanica or ancient vampire, associated with modern vampire squids, that are neither squids nor vampires, exhibits the existence of muscular suckers that the beastie possibly used for snaring and manipulating target.

As specified in a ScienceAlert report, a dreadful vampire predator that lurked in the oceans of Earth more than 160 million years ago, perhaps, did suck its prey, "at least in a sense."

This means it was an active predator that hunted the pelagic depths for mouthwatering morsels. This is in direct contrast to the present relatives of the animal, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, whose suckers appear massively non-functional and collect organic material's drifting flakes using sticky cells on a pair of specialized appendages that look like threads.

In the study, a team of researchers led by France-based Sorbonne University's Alison Rowe wrote, "The contrast in trophic niches between the two taxa is consistent" with the hypothesis that such forms diversified in continental shelf environments before the appearance of adaptations in the Oligocene that lead to their modern deep-sea mode of life.

Cephalopods Scarce in the Fossil Record

Mushy animals such as cephalopods are somewhat scarce in the fossil record, the study authors specified in their research published in Scientific Reports.

In addition, soft tissues do not fossilize as readily or well as bones, making fossils, particularly the good ones, very rare or unusual.

Rare does not mean nonexistent, though. Rowe and her colleagues examined three V. rhodanica fossils from a lagerstätte or sedimentary deposit dating back to more than 160 million years in La Voulte-sur-Rhône in France.

This extremely fine sedimentary fossil bet is remarkably good at preventing fossils, including soft tissue.

V. Infernalis Vs V. Rhodanica

Even soft tissue preserved in this manner is not always easy to parse. To understand the V. rhodanica's anatomy, Rowe's team took the fossils to the France-based European Synchrotron Radiation through non-invasive 3D imaging.

Rowe described their findings and explained that the fossils are on tiny slabs, which are quite difficult to scan. Other than that, soft tissues are preserved, although there was a need for phase-contrast imaging to visualize "the faint density variation in the data."

Essentially, the coherence of ESRF beamline ID19 was essential to carry out propagation phase-contrast computed-tomography, as well as track all the minute details like the suckers and small fleshy extensions known as cirri, a similar ScienceDaily report said.

The scans showed some interesting disparities between V. infernalis and V. rhodanica, the only living member of the Vampyromorph order.

'Oligocene'

Even though they are both related, the two species occupy different ecological niches, neither of which has something to do with vampirism.

By the Oligocene, approximately 30 million years back, vampire squids were already in the depths, lurking about, awaiting organic debris to rain down into their hungry arms.

Sometime in the intervening millions of years, vampire squids made a substantial lifestyle change. The manner and reason for such an occurrence will need to be the subject of future study if the fossils can be discovered.

Related information about Vampyronassa rhodanica is shown on Violet Ponder's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Paleontology in Science Times.