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First Middle–Late Jurassic gladius vestiges provide new evidence on the detailed origin of incirrate and cirrate octopuses (Coleoidea)

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Abstract

Limpet-like and non-mineralized fossils from the upper Kimmeridgian Nusplingen Plattenkalk are identified as internal shells of coleoid cephalopods, more specifically as octobrachian gladii. The significantly reduced median field provokes us to consider this new gladius type to be shorter than the mantle length. It is consequently seen as a vestigial gladius. The first recognition of an unpaired gladius vestige in the fossil record sheds new light on the evolutionary history of the gladius vestiges of incirrate and cirrate Octopoda. Patelloctopus ilgi sp. nov. is most similar to Callovian Pearceiteuthis buyi in having a rudimentary median field with an extraordinary large opening angle and radiating ribs on the lateral fields. Both P. ilgi sp. nov. and P. buyi are therefore combined in the new family Patelloctopodidae. The patella-shaped lateral fields of the gladius vestige exposes Patelloctopus and Pearceiteuthis as members of the superfamily Muensterelloidea, which includes, apart from Patelloctopodidae, the Muensterellidae and Enchoteuthidae. The unpaired patelloctopodid gladius vestige is morphologically intermediate between the muensterelloid gladius type and the paired (bipartite) gladius vestige of Late Cretaceous Palaeoctopodidae (Palaeoctopus, Keuppia). The gladius vestige morphology suggests that the mode of locomotion and the life style of these shallow water inhabitants were similar to those of extant deep-sea octopods (Cirrata) and that the Patelloctopodidae represents the stem group of the Octopoda (Cirrata and Incirrata), although Patelloctopus ilgi sp. nov. might alternatively be a stem incirrate.

Kurzfassung

Napfschnecken-artige und nicht mineralisierte Fossilien aus dem Nusplinger Plattenkalk (Ober-Kimmeridgium) werden als die Innenschale coleoider Cephalopoden gedeutet, genauer als ein Gladius der Octobrachia. Das signifikant reduzierte Mittelfeld lässt uns annehmen, dass dieser neue Gladius-Typ kürzer gewesen sein muss als die Mantellänge. Er ist deswegen als Gladiusrest anzusehen. Die erste Entdeckung von unpaaren Gladiusresten im Fossilbericht gibt neue Aufschlüsse über die Evolutionsgeschichte der Gladiusreste von incirraten und cirraten Octopoda. Wegen seines rudimentären Mittelfeldes, dessen außergewöhnlich großen Öffnungswinkels und radiärer Rippen auf den Seitenfeldern ähnelt Patelloctopus ilgi sp. nov. am meisten Pearceiteuthis buyi aus dem Callovium. Patelloctopus ilgi sp. nov. and Pearceiteuthis buyi werden deswegen in der neu aufgestellten Familie Patelloctopodidae vereinigt. Die Patella-artig geformten Lateralfelder des Gladiusrestes lassen Patelloctopus und Pearceiteuthis eindeutig als Mitglieder der Superfamilie Muensterelloidea erkennen, in der neben den Patelloctopodidae die Muensterellidae und die Enchoteuthidae zusammengefasst sind. Morphologisch kann der unpaare Gladiusrest der mittel- und spätjurassischen Patelloctopodidae als intermediäres Stadium zwischen einem muensterelloiden Gladius und den paarigen (zweiteiligen) Gladiusresten der spätkretazischen Palaeoctopodidae (Palaeoctopus, Keuppia) angesehen werden. Die Morphologie des unpaaren Gladiusrestes lässt vermuten, dass sich die Art der Fortbewegung und die Lebensweise dieser Flachwasserbewohner denen heutiger Tiefseeoctopoden (Cirrata) ähnelte und dass ferner die Patelloctopodidae die Stammgruppe der Octopoda (Cirrata und Incirrata) darstellt, obwohl alternativ dazu Patelloctopus ilgi sp. nov. schon ein Stammgruppenvertreter der Incirrata gewesen sein könnte.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the technicians Martin Kapitzke and Markus Rieter who prepared the studied material. Moreover, we acknowledge the hard work of our former and present volunteers during the excavation of the Nusplingen Plattenkalk, namely Gerd Dietl, Falk-Horst Epping, Rolf Hugger, August Ilg, and Burkhart Russ. Thanks to Helmut Tischlinger, we are able to provide top-quality UV photographs of the studied specimens. More thanks go to René Hoffmann and a second anonymous reviewer whose thorough review helped to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333, Munich, Germany

    Dirk Fuchs

  2. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany

    Günter Schweigert

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  1. Dirk Fuchs
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Correspondence to Dirk Fuchs.

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Fuchs, D., Schweigert, G. First Middle–Late Jurassic gladius vestiges provide new evidence on the detailed origin of incirrate and cirrate octopuses (Coleoidea). PalZ 92, 203–217 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-017-0399-8

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