Vampire squid are gentle blobs. But this ancestor was a fierce hunter
Reconstruction of 164-million-year-old fossils reveal a muscular body and powerful suckers
![illustration of Vampyronassa rhodanica in pink with a blue background](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/062222_CG_vampire-squid_feat.jpg?fit=1030%2C580&ssl=1)
Vampyronassa rhodanica (illustrated), an ancestor of the modern vampire squid, lived 164 million years ago. It had a sleek, muscular body and eight arms lined with powerful suckers that could have helped it snatch and hold onto prey.
A. Lethiers/CR2P-SU.