By looking at the vampire squid's taxonomy, I found out that there are four other families in the order vampyromorpha that are closely related to Vampyroteuthis infernalis.
These four families are Geopeltididae, Leptoheuthididae, Mastigophoridae, and Loligosepiidae. All of these families are extinct. What you see above is a fossil of Leptotheuthis gigas, a close relative to the vampire squid. Dirk Fuchs, the person who found this fossil, says it resembles the vampire squid by having eight thick arms and the same web to connect all the arms.
I believe that since it resembles it, Leptotheuthis gigas and it's other relatives might have the same defensive techniques. Like having the ability to turn inside-out and maybe even have bioluminescence.
What do u think?
Fuchs, Dirk. "Loligosepiina." Tree of Life Web Project. 3 May 2010. Web. 08 Apr. 2011. http://tolweb.org/Loligosepiina/140240.
Do all of the four families that are related to the vampire squid have that defensive mechanism? If so thats a really cool trait to have for the animal.
ReplyDeleteI think that they probably do have the same defense mechanisms. Cause its a pretty good defense i think something that odd and unusual is so awesome yet very scary. Who would want to tangle with a bright red spike covered ball.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the webbing in between the thicker arms are a good indication of the relation between the vampire squid and the Leptotheuthis giga. What could have caused all the families but one to go extinct?
ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question sage is, no one really knows. Its just a theory that since they are closely realated they might have the same trait. And gregg that is a good question. I will make a new post on that topic.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting research, especially since soft-bodied marine animals often don't fossilize the best. Is there way we can determine from examining the fossil if it had bioluminescence? What structure(s) or traits visible on the fossil would help us determine if this animal had the ability to perform bioluminescence?
ReplyDeleteJust by looking at the fossil, you cant really determine if it had the ability to perform bioluminescence. But from what I remembered from lecture, we are able to extract DNA from the fossil. Maybe by doing this and compare it to the vampire squid's DNA, we can detimine if they both have the gene for bioluminescence.
ReplyDeleteHow do we bioengineer humans to have bioluminescence? I mean it would really serve a purpose for all those who go to raves. As for a defense mechanism It may freak people out and they'd run away if there was a potential fight. Could this trait be beneficial for the fossil species and be plausible or do you think it came much later on in its evolution?
ReplyDeleteit all depends on if they started it's existant. But I believe that they always had bioluminescence since the begining, but the way they used it probably was taught later in the years.
ReplyDelete