Keuppia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of octopuses}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Keuppia | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|97|93}} <small>Late Cenomanian</small> | image = Keuppia_levante.jpg | image_caption = ''K. levante'' | authority = Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = {{species list |K. hyperbolaris|Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009 |K. levante|Fuchs, Bracchi & Weis, 2009}} }}

'''''Keuppia''''' is an extinct genus of octopus.

==Taxonomy==

[[File:Fauna of Haqel and Hjoula.png|thumb|left|Fauna and depositional environment of the coeval Hakel and Hjoula localities, including ''Keuppia'']] It consists of two species, ''Keuppia hyperbolaris'' and ''Keuppia levante'', both of which lived approximately 95 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Fuchs | first1 = D. | last2 = Bracchi | first2 = G. | last3 = Weis | first3 = R. | title = New octopods (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Cretaceous (Upper Cenomanian) of Hâkel and Hâdjoula, Lebanon | doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00828.x | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 52 | pages = 65–81| year = 2009 | issue = 1 | bibcode = 2009Palgy..52...65F | doi-access = free }}</ref> Both species were found in fossilized form, which is very uncommon for extinct octopuses, as the soft tissue of dead octopuses almost always disintegrates before it has a chance to fossilize.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna29757659 Rare fossil octopuses found], NBC News, March 18, 2009</ref> These fossils, along with those of the genus ''Styletoctopus'', were found from the Cretaceous-age Hâqel and Hjoula localities in Lebanon. The presence of a gladius vestige in this genus shows a transition from squid to octopus in which the inner shell has divided in two in early forms to eventually be reduced to lateralized stylets, as can be seen in ''Styletoctopus''.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Octopuses Category:Prehistoric cephalopod genera Category:Fossil taxa described in 2009