Pohlsepia mazonensis, once thought to be the granddaddy of all octopuses, has been reclassified as a squashed nautiloid. This fossil, dating back 311 million years, was part of a mysterious group that fooled scientists for decades.

The Carboniferous period holds many secrets, but this particular mystery has now been solved by the team at Leicester University using advanced imaging techniques. It turns out, Pohlsepia wasn't an octopus; it was just a decomposed nautiloid caught in the act of disintegration.

This revelation isn’t just about taxonomy—it’s a reminder that sometimes our understanding of evolution is as much about interpretation as it is about evidence. The fossils from Mazon Creek, Illinois, are famous for their ability to capture soft tissue, but they can also play tricks on us. Paleontologists were basically seeing a smear on rock and trying to read the anatomy in it, akin to interpreting a Rorschach test.

The story of Pohlsepia serves as a cautionary tale about how much we need to rely on rigorous analysis before declaring something significant in paleontology. It’s also a bit like finding out your favourite Rorschach inkblot isn’t even supposed to be a bird—it challenges our perceptions and reminds us that the world can often present us with more than just what it seems.