Scientists Identify Ancient Wyoming Sea Creature

Researchers have named Wyoteuthis linsterorum, a 160-million-year-old belemnite relative whose unusually wide rostrum set it apart from known relatives.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Geology

Photograph of a pale, slender fossil shell embedded in weathered sedimentary rock in a Wyoming badlands hillside under warm raking light. — Researchers have named Wyoteuthis linsterorum, a 160-million-year-old extinct belemnite relative from a Jurassic sea that covered Wyoming, based on two known fossils. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Scientists have identified a new extinct marine species, Wyoteuthis linsterorum, that lived in an ancient sea covering parts of Wyoming during the Jurassic Period. The species belonged to belemnites, an extinct group of marine animals, and only two fossils are known.

Why it matters

The new species adds to scientific understanding of Jurassic marine life in the region and reveals an unexpected connection to an ancient belemnite family believed to have disappeared millions of years earlier. Its unusual body structure raises questions about how these animals lived and hunted.

CT scans of the two known fossils revealed internal structures without damaging the specimens, showing a rostrum about 4 inches long and 2.4 inches wide. Typical regional belemnite rostra from the Sundance Formation measure two to four inches long and less than an inch wide, and the reasons for the species' unusual proportions remain under study.

The players

Dr. Burkhard Pohl

Dr. Burkhard Pohl is a paleontologist who discovered the first known fossil of Wyoteuthis linsterorum in the late 1990s.

Cliff Linster

Cliff Linster is a fossil collector who discovered the second known specimen of Wyoteuthis linsterorum near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, in 2019.

The details

The first fossil was found in the late 1990s by Dr. Burkhard Pohl, and its unusual shape made classification difficult. A second specimen discovered by fossil collector Cliff Linster near Ten Sleep, Wyoming, in 2019 provided enough evidence to formally identify the species.

Jurassic Period, approximately 160 million years ago: the species lived in an ancient Wyoming sea.
Late 1990s: Dr. Burkhard Pohl found the first fossil.
2019: Cliff Linster discovered the second specimen near Ten Sleep.
November 2, 2026: Research identifying the species was published.

The Big Picture

The discovery extends the known belemnite record of the Sundance Formation, where most rostra are two to four inches long and under an inch wide. Wyoteuthis linsterorum's wider rostrum departs from that regional pattern and adds a new data point to Jurassic marine fossil research in Wyoming.

The discovery shows how fossil collectors and CT imaging can reveal previously unknown ancient species without damaging specimens. Researchers may continue studying the species' body structure and hunting habits using additional fossil material.

The takeaway

A single well-preserved fossil can overturn assumptions about an entire group of extinct animals, and collectors and scientists working together can uncover what decades of study missed.