Molluscs the size of a man swam across the Atlantic Ocean 80 million years ago

A new study finds that about 80 million years ago, human-sized sea creatures were able to

swim across the Atlantic Ocean.We are talking about Parapuzosia seppenradensis, a species of cephalopods that became extinct about 66 million years ago. They are known as the largest ammonites known to science and lived at the end of the Cretaceous period. The first specimen of mollusks was found in Germany in 1895. Its diameter is 1.8 m, although the living chamber is only partially preserved.

The largest ever foundThe ammonite fossil has a diameter of about six feet. (Image credit: Ifrim et al., 2021, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))

In a new study, scientists have filled in the gaps inevolutionary histories of massive cephalopods. They studied 154 samples of fossil ammonites 80 million years old, collected in England and Mexico, 40 km north of Piedras Negras. And if on the territory of Europe, fossils of mollusks have already been found, then the discovery of their remains on the other side of the Atlantic surprised scientists.

Paleontologists have suggested how giganticammonites appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. In general, it is believed that these ancient mollusks are rather slow swimmers, like modern nautiluses. But perhaps ammonites were able to cover vast distances faster and swim more efficiently due to their impressive size. Another theory is that the extinct cephalopods may have crossed the ocean in the early stages of growth and were simply carried away by ocean currents.

Also, analysis of the fossils showed that the clam P. seppenradensis likely descended from a smaller related species, Parapuzosia leptophylla. It is known that its diameter was only 1 m.

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