Evidence of whale-eating squid monster

An American researcher has presented fossil evidence of the existence of a squid monster believed to be 1.6 km long and capable of swallowing whales.

Illustration of the legendary squid monster Kraken. Photo: YouTube.

The Kraken is a giant squid monster from Norse mythology that devours whales and ships. Legends describe the sea creature as being 1.6 kilometers long. While the Kraken was first mentioned in the 13th-century Icelandic folktale Örvar-Oddr, one researcher claims there is fossil evidence of the creature, according to Ancient Origins.

Discovered in 2011, the fossils of a marine lizard with strange markings that could have been made by a Kraken-like creature. Despite criticism, Professor Mark McMenamin, a paleontologist at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, USA, has provided more evidence to support the conclusion.

Squid tentacle traces on ichthyosaur fossil. Photo: Mark McMenamin.

A fossilized spine of a marine reptile with an unusual arrangement was found in Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada, USA. The fossil belongs to an ichthyosaur that lived 200-250 million years ago. The way the bones are arranged suggests it was attacked by a much larger predator, possibly a giant octopus or squid that dominated the oceans at the time. According to estimates, the creature that defeated the ichthyosaur must have been about 30 meters long, far exceeding the giant Pacific octopus, the largest octopus species today.

The discovery of a fossilized part of what is believed to be a giant squid beak, along with several bones with tentacle marks, seems to support Professor McMenamin’s theory. A pile of bone fragments was also found next to the ichthyosaur’s body.

Professor McMenamin said the arrangement of the skeleton and the position of the tentacles suggested the ichthyosaur had been drowned or strangled. It was likely dragged back to its lair by a Kraken-like monster and its body dumped there.

However, researchers still believe that more convincing evidence is needed before drawing an accurate conclusion about the existence of the Kraken monster in reality.

According to VNE