| Styletoctopus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Octopoda |
| Family: | Octopodidae |
| Genus: | †Styletoctopus |
| Species: | †S. annae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Styletoctopus annae Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009
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Styletoctopus is an extinct genus of octopus. The genus consists of the single species Styletoctopus annae, which lived approximately 95 million years ago1 during the late Cenomanian, (early late Cretaceous). It was first discovered in 2009 by a team led by Dirk Fuchs of Freie University2 in the Hâqel and Hjoula localities in Lebanon.1 Very few octopus species appear in the fossil record, as octopuses consist of soft tissue that usually decomposes before it has time to fossilize.2
References
References
- Fuchs, D.; Bracchi, G.; Weis, R. (2009). "New octopods (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Cretaceous (Upper Cenomanian) of Hâkel and Hâdjoula, Lebanon". Palaeontology. 52 (1): 65–81. Bibcode:2009Palgy..52...65F. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00828.x.
- Rare fossil octopuses found, NBC News, March 18, 2009