Scientists discover 430 million-year-old ‘Cthulhu’ fossil

A 430 million-year-old fossil has injected life into the classic “Cthulhu” sea monster myth as scientists use new technology to create 3D models of ancient underwater life.

The fossil, described as being “exceptionally preserved”, was pulled from the seabed in Herefordshire in the UK and measures just 3 centimetres wide.

It is believed to be one of the earliest sea cucumbers in existence, and when alive would have appeared “monstrous” to the miniscule aquatic life around it.

Palaeontologists from the US and the UK worked together to grind away the fossil, photographing it from hundreds of different angles to then digitally reconstruct the animal as a 3D model.

After discovering the cucumber’s numerous tentacles – which would have been used to capture food and crawl across the sea floor – the scientists named the new species as Sollasina Cthulhu, after the fictional sea monster created by author H.P Lovecraft.

Invented by Lovecraft in 1928, Cthulhu is an enormous octopus-like underwater entity that hibernates under the ocean and cultivates human anxiety on a subconscious level.

Dr Jeffrey Thompson, who co-authored the paper described Sollasina Cthulhu, said the discovery shed more light on the evolutionary timeline of sea slugs.

"We carried out a number of analyses to work out whether Sollasina was more closely related to sea cucumbers or sea urchins,” said Dr Thompson.

“To our surprise, the results suggest it was an ancient sea cucumber. This helps us understand the changes that occurred during the early evolution of the group, which ultimately gave rise to the slug-like forms we see today."

The slices of the ancient cucumber – as well as the 3D reconstruction of its living form – are currently being held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.