Octopuses' earliest relatives may have been gigantic predators hunting during the age of dinosaurs, according to new Hokkaido University research.

“The color-changing, jet-propelling giant Pacific Octopus is a brainy beauty that can disappear in the blink of an eye."

Massive octopuses, some as long as 62 feet, once roamed the oceans during the time of the dinosaurs. New fossil discoveries suggest that these gigantic invertebrates were top predators in the Cretaceous period.

The finned octopus lived alongside T. rex and may have been one of the top predators in the ancient ocean food chain.

The largest octopus alive today, in comparison, is the giant Pacific octopus. Per National Geographic, it tends to reach up to 16 feet in size, and though it has been known to eat larger animals like sharks and birds, it usually eats shrimp, clams, lobsters and fish.

Some octopuses that lived over 72 million years ago were as long as whales. These huge predators may have been the largest invertebrates ever.

That’s as new evidence has found that a ‘kraken-like’ octopus was once roaming the seas, according to scientists. The Kraken was a legend of a sea monster, originating in Scandinavian folklore and feared by sailors of the past thanks to its depiction of being capable of destroying entire ships.

For 25 years, a hand-sized sea creature embedded in Illinois rock held the title of the world’s oldest octopus. Now, thanks to a machine that shoots extremely powerful beams of light through stone,