60-foot octopus ruled the seas during age of dinosaurs, fossils show

World 60-foot octopus prowled seas as apex predator during age of dinosaurs, fossilized jaws show Updated on: April 24, 2026 / 7:27 AM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google 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...