For 25 years the world celebrated Pohlsepia mazonensis as the oldest octopus fossil ever — a Guinness World Record holder that made every cephalopod nerd swoon. Turns out it was never an octopus at all. It was a nautiloid wearing a very convincing “I decomposed for weeks and now I look like an octopus” costume. Science just got catfished by a 300-million-year-old squid cousin, and the entire family tree needs a dramatic rewrite.
World’s Oldest Known ‘Octopus’ Turns Out to Be An Entirely Different Animal
