late Cretaceous
Coverage of late Cretaceous in the Nexus archive.
- Earth’s orbital wobble triggered rapid climate chaos during the dinosaur age
New research indicates Earth's orbital wobble caused rapid climate shifts during the Late Cretaceous, alternating between humid and arid states every few thousand years. Ancient sediments reveal these cycles linked to tiny changes in Earth's orbit.
- 'Gigantic' ancient octopus used jaws to crush prey and hunted alongside the dinosaurs 100M years ago: study
A study by Hokkaido University researchers revealed that ancient octopuses lived 100 million years ago, coexisting with dinosaurs and reaching lengths up to 20 meters. Fossilized jaws found in Japan and Vancouver Island suggest these predators used powerful jaws to crush prey, challenging previous assumptions about marine food chains dominated by vertebrates.
- A real-life Kraken stalked the seas of the late Cretaceous
Researchers discovered evidence of enormous Kraken-like creatures that hunted in the seas during the late Cretaceous, approximately 100 million years ago, competing with large apex predators. The findings were visualized in an image credited to Yohei Utsuki from Hokkaido University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.