The elusive ' vampire squid from hell ' has just yielded the largest cephalopod genome ever sequenced, a monster clocking in at more than 11 billion base pairs – more than twice as large as the biggest squid genomes.

Hidden in its mix of A, T, G, and C was a deep evolutionary story. Despite not being an actual squid, Vampyroteuthis infernalis has preserved a surprisingly squid-like chromosomal architecture – a layout shared long ago with the ancestor of modern octopuses and squids.

The vampire squid is a fascinating twig tenaciously hanging onto the cephalopod family tree. It's neither a squid nor an octopus (nor a vampire), but rather the last, lone remnant of an ancient lineage whose other members have long since vanished.

It's considered by many to be a living fossil in some re

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