2026年4月24日 / 美国东部时间早上7:39 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
一亿年前的恐龙时代，海洋中最顶级的掠食者可能是章鱼。
对化石颌骨的最新分析显示，这种类似北海巨妖的巨型章鱼曾与其他海洋掠食者一同捕猎。它们拥有八条腕足，躯体总长超过60英尺，可与其他肉食性海洋爬行动物一较高下。
“这些‘北海巨妖’想必是令人望而生畏的存在，”阿拉巴马大学古生物学家阿迪亚尔·克洛普马克在一封邮件中说道。他并未参与这项新研究。
恐龙爱好者都知道，白垩纪晚期的海域由尖齿鲨鱼以及沧龙、蛇颈龙这类海洋爬行动物统治。
为何章鱼从未被纳入顶级掠食者的行列？科学家曾研究过与恐龙同期活动的巨型章鱼近亲，也对一些会钻孔钻进蛤蜊的小型章鱼进行过研究。但由于章鱼柔软的躯体很难形成化石，人们很难准确推断这类生物曾经的体型。
此外还有一种普遍认知：柔软的无脊椎动物不够强悍，不足以跻身顶级掠食者之列。但章鱼由硬化几丁质构成的喙足坚硬无比，足以碾碎带壳和带骨的生物。
在这项新研究中，研究人员对此前在日本和加拿大温哥华岛发现的15份古代章鱼化石颌骨进行了分析。他们还通过一种自主研发的名为“数字化化石勘探”的技术，对日本境内的岩石进行断面扫描以发现隐藏其中的化石，进而确认了另外12份颌骨样本。
研究人员将这些颌骨与现代章鱼的颌骨进行对比，以估算这类古生物的体型，最终确定古代章鱼的体长在23英尺至62英尺之间。北海道大学古生物学家安场泰弘是该研究的合著者，他在邮件中表示，其中最大的颌骨远大于任何现代章鱼的颌骨。
安场泰弘在接受路透社采访时表示，这种掠食者是有记录以来体型最大的无脊椎动物之一。
“迄今为止，已知体型最大的无脊椎动物是现代大王乌贼，其总长度可达约12米（39英尺），”安场泰弘说道。
2026年4月23日发布的艺术复原图，展示了一种名为Nanaimoteuthis haggarti的有鳍章鱼，其体长 estimated at up to 18.6 meters (61.02 feet)，生存于约8600万至7200万年前的白垩纪时期。Yohei Utsuki/北海道大学/路透社供图
研究人员还发现，体型最大的个体颌骨存在严重磨损痕迹，包括划痕、缺口和圆润的边缘，这表明“这些动物会反复碾碎贝壳、骨骼这类坚硬猎物”，安场泰弘说道。
由于无法获取这些章鱼的胃容物，科学家很难确切知晓它们的食物种类，也无法确认它们是否真的与其他顶级掠食者争夺食物。它们可能以鱼类或蜗牛为食，用灵活的腕足捕捉猎物，再用喙足将其撕碎。
“我们的研究结果表明，强有力的颌骨以及体表骨骼的缺失，使得头足类动物与海洋脊椎动物趋同演化成为巨型、高智商的掠食者，”研究人员在周四发表于《科学》期刊的论文中写道。
纽约美国自然历史博物馆的古生物学家尼尔·兰德曼表示，在其他地点寻找章鱼化石，有助于科学家更清晰地了解这类生物在古代食物网中的作用。他并未参与这项新研究。
“这是一个广袤古老的星球，”兰德曼说道，“我们还有大量研究工作要做，才能拼凑出远古时期的海洋生态系统全貌。”
本月早些时候，一块此前被认为是世界最古老章鱼的史前化石被重新分类。科学家发现，这块化石实际上属于另一种海洋生物。此前被吉尼斯世界纪录列为已知最早章鱼的化石遗骸，实则属于鹦鹉螺的近亲——一种同时拥有触手和外壳的头足类动物。
60-foot octopus prowled seas as apex predator during age of dinosaurs, fossilized jaws show
April 24, 2026 / 7:39 AM EDT / CBS/AP
The top predator prowling the seas during the age of the dinosaurs 100 million years ago may have been the octopus.
New analyses of fossilized jaws reveal that massive, kraken-like octopuses once hunted alongside other marine predators. They boasted eight arms and long bodies that extended more than 60 feet, rivaling other carnivorous marine reptiles.
“These krakens must have been a fearsome sight to behold,” University of Alabama paleontologist Adiel Klompmaker said in an email. He had no role in the new research.
Dinosaur fans know that late Cretaceous-era waters were ruled by sharp-toothed sharks and sea reptiles known as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.
Why do octopuses get left out of the mix? Scientists have studied giant octopus relatives that roamed when dinosaurs were around, and researched some small octopuses that drilled into clams. But since their soft bodies don’t preserve well, it’s hard to figure out exactly how big the creatures got.
There’s also a perception that squishy invertebrates — creatures without backbones — weren’t formidable enough to join the ranks of top predators. But octopus’ beaks made of stiffened chitin are tough enough to crush shelled and bony critters.
In the new study, researchers studied the jaws of 15 ancient octopus fossils that were previously found in Japan and Canada’s Vancouver Island. They also identified 12 more jaws from Japan using a technique they created called digital fossil mining, which closely scans rocks in cross-sections to reveal fossils hiding inside.
They compared the jaws to that of modern-day octopuses to estimate how large the creatures may have been, and determined that the ancient octopuses ranged from 23 to 62 feet in length. The largest jaw was substantially bigger than that of any modern octopus, said co-author and paleontologist Yasuhiro Iba with Hokkaido University in an email.
Iba told Reuters that the predator is one of the largest invertebrates on record.
“Until now, the largest-known invertebrate has been the modern giant squid, which can reach about 12 meters (39 feet) in total length,” Iba said.
An artist’s reconstruction of a finned octopus of the species Nanaimoteuthis haggarti that reached a length estimated at up to 18.6 meters (61.02 feet) and lived about 86 to 72 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period, released on April 23, 2026. Yohei Utsuki/Hokkaido University/Handout via REUTERS
The researchers also found that the largest creatures’ jaws had significant wear and tear including scratches, chips and rounded edges, suggesting that “the animals repeatedly crushed hard prey such as shells and bones,” said Iba.
Without access to the octopuses’ stomach contents, it’s hard to know for sure what they were eating or whether they truly competed with other top predators for their meals. They could have snacked on fish or snails, snatching prey with flexible arms and breaking it apart with their beaks.
“Our findings show that powerful jaws, and the loss of superficial skeletons, convergently transformed cephalopods and marine vertebrates into huge, intelligent predators,” the researchers said about the findings were published Thursday in the journal Science.
Looking for octopus fossils in other places might help scientists get a clearer idea of how they factor into ancient food webs, said paleontologist Neil Landman with the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
“It’s a big old planet,” said Landman, who wasn’t involved with the new research. “So we have lots to look at to piece together the marine ecosystem through time.”
Earlier this month, a prehistoric fossil previously thought to belong to the world’s oldest octopus was reclassified as something else, after scientists discovered the remains actually belonged to a different type of sea creature. It turned out the fossilized remains listed by Guinness World Records as the earliest known octopus belong instead to a relative of a nautilus, a cephalopod with both tentacles and a shell.
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