Paleontologist Mark McMenamin thinks he might have solved the mystery of why the nine ichthyosaur fossils at a Nevada state park appear to be lined up in a geometric pattern: They might have been the remains of a sea monster's meals.
McMenamin, a professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, presented his findings at the Geological Society of America conference in Minneapolis on Oct. 10. He proposed that a kraken, a creature like a giant octopus or squid, attacked the whale-sized ichthyosaurs under the sea and dined on them millions of years ago -- and then arranged the bodies.
The idea drew fire from some experts. A headline on the Discovery Channel Web page asked "Smoking kraken?" Another scientist told McMenamin that his theory was "kraken me up."
The professor is unfazed.
"I'm somewhat shocked by the negative reaction (among some experts and commentators)," he said. "I wasn't expecting that."
He said some critics are practicing "science by assertion" in saying the theory can't be true. The proposition can be tested with further examination of the Berlin site, looking for fossil evidence of the few hard parts of squidlike creatures among fossil collections and researching the behavior of modern octopi, he said.
"It's a hypothesis, and some experts have said it's the best one out there," McMenamin said. "I came up with it by a process of elimination. Nothing else seems to explain what we see (at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park)."
The rangers at the park say their tours will stick to the standard interpretation of the site.
"We don't have an opinion on the new theory," said Robin Riggs, a ranger at Berlin-Ichthyosaur near Austin. "It's given us a lot of exposure, and it's good for the park. We have no official stance. We invite people to come out and see for yourself and form your open opinion."
The fossils at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada are the remains of ichthyosaurs, giant, sea-dwelling reptiles that resemble today's whales. The remains seem to be arranged in a geometric pattern, rather than randomly scattered.
Previous theories include speculation that toxic algae killed the ichthyosaurs all at once or that the reptiles washed up on a beach, became buried and their bones fossilized. But instant mass killing by algae is unlikely, scientists say, and the geology of the area doesn't support the beached-whale theory.
Somehow, these reptiles found themselves together, neatly arranged, in death deep beneath the ocean. Some of their backbones appear broken, according to scientists.
But what kind of creature could break the backs of whale-sized reptiles and then arrange their bones like a prehistoric Ezekiel?
McMenamin said that while he was working on the theory, he saw a video of a giant octopus killing a shark in a Seattle aquarium. Octopi also have been known to pile up "middens" of the leavings of their meals around their lairs. In other words, they play with their food.
Previously, kraken have been considered mythical and relegated to movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Because octopi and squid are soft-tissue creatures, they aren't found in fossil form except for a couple bony parts, so the very existence of a kraken in the Triassic Period is a matter of speculation.
But McMenamin thinks the beasts might have been real -- and intelligent enough to stack bones in a pattern pleasing to the eyes of both octopi and humans.
The key to the site, he said, is the "double row pattern" of fossils arranged in a deliberate fashion. The remains from one or more animals seem to be by size and arranged from smallest to largest, akin to the sucker pattern on an octopus' tentacle.
That would make the fossils a piece of octoartwork, a self-portrait.
That's all a bit much for some experts and science writers to swallow.
"You don't have to be a paleontologist to realize that there's something fishy about claims that there was a giant, ichthyosaur-crunching squid when there is no body to be seen," wrote science journalist Brian Switek on Wired.com in an post headlined "The Giant, Prehistoric Squid That Ate Common Sense."
McMenamin said theories are theories, not facts, and need to be examined, not dismissed out of hand.
"I think this (unexplained configuration of fossils) is a problem that can be solved," he said.
The backbone of an Ichthyosaur is clearly visible at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park about 40 miles east of U.S. 50 from Eastgate. / Marilyn Newton/RGJ file
McMenamin, a professor at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, presented his findings at the Geological Society of America conference in Minneapolis on Oct. 10. He proposed that a kraken, a creature like a giant octopus or squid, attacked the whale-sized ichthyosaurs under the sea and dined on them millions of years ago -- and then arranged the bodies.
The idea drew fire from some experts. A headline on the Discovery Channel Web page asked "Smoking kraken?" Another scientist told McMenamin that his theory was "kraken me up."
The professor is unfazed.
"I'm somewhat shocked by the negative reaction (among some experts and commentators)," he said. "I wasn't expecting that."
He said some critics are practicing "science by assertion" in saying the theory can't be true. The proposition can be tested with further examination of the Berlin site, looking for fossil evidence of the few hard parts of squidlike creatures among fossil collections and researching the behavior of modern octopi, he said.
"It's a hypothesis, and some experts have said it's the best one out there," McMenamin said. "I came up with it by a process of elimination. Nothing else seems to explain what we see (at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park)."
The rangers at the park say their tours will stick to the standard interpretation of the site.
"We don't have an opinion on the new theory," said Robin Riggs, a ranger at Berlin-Ichthyosaur near Austin. "It's given us a lot of exposure, and it's good for the park. We have no official stance. We invite people to come out and see for yourself and form your open opinion."
The fossils at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Nevada are the remains of ichthyosaurs, giant, sea-dwelling reptiles that resemble today's whales. The remains seem to be arranged in a geometric pattern, rather than randomly scattered.
Previous theories include speculation that toxic algae killed the ichthyosaurs all at once or that the reptiles washed up on a beach, became buried and their bones fossilized. But instant mass killing by algae is unlikely, scientists say, and the geology of the area doesn't support the beached-whale theory.
Somehow, these reptiles found themselves together, neatly arranged, in death deep beneath the ocean. Some of their backbones appear broken, according to scientists.
But what kind of creature could break the backs of whale-sized reptiles and then arrange their bones like a prehistoric Ezekiel?
McMenamin said that while he was working on the theory, he saw a video of a giant octopus killing a shark in a Seattle aquarium. Octopi also have been known to pile up "middens" of the leavings of their meals around their lairs. In other words, they play with their food.
Previously, kraken have been considered mythical and relegated to movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Because octopi and squid are soft-tissue creatures, they aren't found in fossil form except for a couple bony parts, so the very existence of a kraken in the Triassic Period is a matter of speculation.
But McMenamin thinks the beasts might have been real -- and intelligent enough to stack bones in a pattern pleasing to the eyes of both octopi and humans.
The key to the site, he said, is the "double row pattern" of fossils arranged in a deliberate fashion. The remains from one or more animals seem to be by size and arranged from smallest to largest, akin to the sucker pattern on an octopus' tentacle.
That would make the fossils a piece of octoartwork, a self-portrait.
That's all a bit much for some experts and science writers to swallow.
"You don't have to be a paleontologist to realize that there's something fishy about claims that there was a giant, ichthyosaur-crunching squid when there is no body to be seen," wrote science journalist Brian Switek on Wired.com in an post headlined "The Giant, Prehistoric Squid That Ate Common Sense."
McMenamin said theories are theories, not facts, and need to be examined, not dismissed out of hand.
"I think this (unexplained configuration of fossils) is a problem that can be solved," he said.
The backbone of an Ichthyosaur is clearly visible at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park about 40 miles east of U.S. 50 from Eastgate. / Marilyn Newton/RGJ file
