Octopuses are very old. The oldest known octopus fossil belongs to an animal that lived some 296 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. That specimen belongs to a species named Pohlsepia and is on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. Harmon Courage describes it as a “flattened cow patty” or a “globular splat,” but a close examination reveals the tell-tale eight arms and two eyes. Researchers aren’t sure, but possibly there’s an ink sack there, too. In other words, long before life on land had progressed beyond puny pre-dinosaur reptiles, octopuses had already established their shape for the millions of years to come.
And yes it is not Octopi but is octopuses. The world “octopus” comes from the Greek, októpus, meaning “eight foot.” The word’s Greek roots means it’s pluralized as a Greek word, too, which depends on both a noun’s gender and the last letter it ends with. In this case, an -es is simply tacked on. So no octopi, octopodes or octopussies, Harmon Courage points out.
