An international team of researchers has described a new “peculiar” species of a squid-like animal, following the discovery of two exceptionally rare fossils in Wyoming, USA. The research is published in the journal Papers in Palaeontology.
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Belemnites, ancient cousins of modern squids and octopuses, are among the most common fossils found worldwide. Millions have been discovered in Wyoming’s Sundance Formation, an ancient inland sea that once covered western USA. But the latest discovery stands out, with scientists describing it as the “fattest belemnite ever discovered.”
Most belemnites unearthed in Wyoming measure around 5–10cm long and 1–2cm wide. By contrast, the newly named species, Wyoteuthis linsterorum, has an unusually broad, barrel-shaped rostrum around 10cm long and up to 6cm wide – making it the thickest belemnite ever recorded.
Researchers estimate the living animal could have reached around 60cm in total length, including its arms.
Years in the making
In the late 1990s, an unusually large belemnite specimen was unearthed by Dr Burkhard Pohl, founder of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. The fossil sat unstudied in the museum’s collection for many years, until a second specimen was discovered by fossil collector Cliff Linster near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, and donated to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in 2019.
Together, these two fossils finally told the whole story, providing enough evidence to identify and formally describe the new species.
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The research was initiated by Wyoming palaeontologist and co-author of the study, Bill Wahl, who said this belemnite “stuck out like a sore thumb.” To investigate the remarkable specimens, he brought together an international team of scientists, including belemnite expert Alexey Ippolitov from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Using computer tomography (CT) scanning, the team was able to examine the fossils without damaging them, revealing internal features and determining the new species’ place in the evolutionary history of belemnites.
This newly described “chunky” belemnite belongs to the family Megateuthididae, which is a group typically considered to have died out globally during the Bathonian period, which lasted from approximately 168–165 million years ago. Species belonging to this family and dating back to the Late Jurassic period have not been previously recorded in North America.
Ippolitov said he was “deeply surprised” to discover a fossil from such a well-studied group that was so radically different from anything found before. After more than 200 years of palaeontological research on belemnites, discoveries like this are exceptionally rare.
“A possible explanation is that their relatively large size gave them an advantage when hunting co-occurring smaller belemnites of the genus Pachyteuthis,” said Ippolitov.
“Modern squid, after all, are hardly picky when it comes to prey: they readily hunt not only other species of cephalopods, but sometimes even their own kind.”
Naming the new squid-like animal
The name Wyoteuthis aptly translates to 'a squid from Wyoming', while the species name, linsterorum, honours Cliff Linster and his family. Cliff Linster passed away in June 2026 – he knew researchers were studying his remarkable discovery and was excited to see it formally described.
Co-author of the study and British palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax, an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and an 1851 Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, UK, first met Cliff and his wife Sandy when he was a teenager.
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“I met Cliff and Sandy in 2009, when I spent a week digging up a dinosaur bonebed on their property in northern Montana. I have fond memories of that dig, listening to Cliff share his passion for fossils, including this belemnite,” he said.
“I’m honoured to help name this fossil after Cliff. It’s bittersweet that he didn’t get to see it published, but it’s wonderful that we can immortalise him and his family name in the history of palaeontology.
“The find is incredibly rare, which might be due to some ecological adaptations to the environment at the time. Perhaps its rarity is a result of narrow specialisation.”
Read the full findings here.
Top image: Field photo showing the locality of Wyoteuthis linsterorum. Courtesy of Alexey Ippolitov
