A new species of extinct cephalopods, belemnites, representatives of the Jurassic and Cretaceous fauna, was found on the Nordvik Peninsula by scientists from the A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Belemnites, similar to modern squids, relatives of octopuses and cuttlefish, had an elongated torpedo—shaped body, 10 tentacles with suckers, large eyes — complex, like modern predators, ink sac — like cuttlefish - for protection; they used the reactive principle of movement: they gathered water into the mantle and threw it out with force. Inside, the clam had a calcareous rod, which helped to keep its balance when moving. Some species of belemnites reached 4 m in length. They were predators, preyed on fish and other shellfish.
The age of the new belemnite species studied by geochemical methods is estimated at 139 million years, which is 6 million years older than previously thought for this geological layer. Now it must be dated to the Berriasian age. This change in dating allowed scientists to reassess the age and species composition of ancient Cretaceous organisms from the Nordvik Peninsula.
"Our unexpected find was the reason to re-evaluate the age and supplement the species composition of ancient organisms from the Cretaceous period from the Nordvik Peninsula. It clarifies our ideas and provides valuable material for further research," said Oksana Dzyuba, project leader and head of the Laboratory of Paleontology of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Stratigraphy.
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