Pohlsepia
Genus of fossil organism from Mazon Creek / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Pohlsepia mazonensis is a species of fossil organism with unknown affinity. Although it was originally identified as an extinct cephalopod,[1] later studies denied that interpretation.[2][3] The species is known from a single exceptionally preserved fossil discovered in the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) Francis Creek Shale (Mazon Creek fossil beds) of the Carbondale Formation, north-east Illinois, United States.[1]
Pohlsepia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Genus: | †Pohlsepia |
Species: | †P. mazonensis |
Binomial name | |
†Pohlsepia mazonensis Kluessendorf & Doyle, 2000 | |
Pohlsepia mazonensis is named after its discoverer, James Pohl, and the type locality, Mazon Creek. Its habitat was the shallows seawards of a major river delta in what at that time was an inland ocean between the Midwest and the Appalachians. In its initial description, it was considered to be the oldest known octopus,[1] but later studies have considered this classification dubious.[2] In 2022, it was even shown that it may not be a mollusk.[3]
The type specimen is reposited at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.[1]