query: parent_taxon tusoteuthis
supports: Tusoteuthis is a genus of Cretaceous cephalopod molluscs . One species , T. longa , has been identified so far , and examination of gladius remains has yielded an estimated mantle length close to or equal to that of the modern giant squid . Recent studies suggest a closer relationship to the vampire squid than the modern day giant squid . Tusoteuthis is assumed to have preyed on other cephalopods , fish , and possibly even small marine reptiles . Despite its size , which was around 20 to 35 feet ( 6 to 11 metres ) long with tentacles fully outstretched , Tusoteuthis was still preyed on by other animals , especially the many , various predatory fish of the Western Interior Seaway . A fossil of the predatory salmonid , Cimolichthys nepaholica , was found with the gladius of T. longa in its gullet . The back portion of the gladius was in the stomach region , while the mouth of C. nepaholica had remained opened , suggesting that the fish had died in the middle of swallowing the squid , tail first . Researchers strongly suspect that as the fish was swallowing Tusoteuthis , the head and / or tentacles remained outside the mouth , thus blocking the gills of the fish , and suffocating it as it swallowed its prey . The colossal squid ("Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni", from Greek "mesos" (middle), "onycho" (claw, nail), and "teuthis" (squid)), sometimes called the Antarctic or giant cranch squid, is believed to be the largest squid species in terms of mass. It is the only known member of the genus "Mesonychoteuthis". It is known from only a few specimens, and current estimates put its maximum size at long and weighing possibly up to 750 kg (1,650 lb), based on analysis of smaller and immature specimens, making it the largest known invertebrate. The Paleogene (or ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Mya. It is the beginning of the Cenozoic Era of the present Phanerozoic Eon. The Paleogene is most notable for being the time during which mammals diversified from relatively small, simple forms into a large group of diverse animals in the wake of the CretaceousPaleogene extinction event that ended the preceding Cretaceous Period.  The Jurassic (from Jura Mountains) is a geologic period and system that spans 56.3 million years from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the Age of Reptiles. The start of the period is marked by the major TriassicJurassic extinction event. Two other extinction events occurred during the period: the Pliensbachian/Toarcian event in the Early Jurassic, and the Tithonian event at the end; however, neither event ranks among the "Big Five" mass extinctions. A cephalopod (pronounced or ) is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , "kephalópoda"; "head-feet"). These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles (muscular hydrostats) modified from the primitive molluscan foot. Fishermen sometimes call them inkfish, referring to their common ability to squirt ink. The study of cephalopods is a branch of malacology known as teuthology. Vampyromorphida is an order of cephalopods comprising one known extant species ("Vampyroteuthis infernalis") and many extinct taxa. Physically, they somewhat resemble octopuses, but the eight arms are united by a web of skin, and two smaller cilia are also present. Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, octopus and squid, and numerous other kinds, many (but by no means all) of which have shells. One division of malacology, conchology, is devoted to the study of mollusk shells. Malacology derives from Greek , "malakos", "soft"; and , "-logia". A fish is any member of a group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Tetrapods emerged within lobe-finned fishes, so cladistically they are fish as well. However, traditionally fish are rendered obsolete or paraphyletic by excluding the tetrapods (i.e., the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals which all descended from within the same ancestry). Because in this manner the term "fish" is defined negatively as a paraphyletic group, it is not considered a formal taxonomic grouping in systematic biology. The traditional term pisces (also ichthyes) is considered a typological, but not a phylogenetic classification. The giant squid (genus Architeuthis) is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. Giant squid can grow to a tremendous size due to deep-sea gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at for females and for males from the posterior fins to the tip of the two long tentacles (second only to the colossal squid at an estimated , one of the largest living organisms). The mantle is about long (more for females, less for males), and the length of the squid excluding its tentacles (but including head and arms) rarely exceeds . Claims of specimens measuring or more have not been scientifically documented. The Cretaceous is a geologic period and system that spans 79 million years from the end of the Jurassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Paleogene Period Mya. It is the last period of the Mesozoic Era. The Cretaceous Period is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation "Kreide" (chalk). In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work mainly like muscular hydrostats. Most forms of tentacles are used for grasping and feeding. Many are sensory organs, variously receptive to touch, vision, or to the smell or taste of particular foods or threats. Examples of such tentacles are the "eye stalks" of various kinds of snails. Some kinds of tentacles have both sensory and manipulatory functions. The vampire squid ("Vampyroteuthis infernalis", lit. "vampire squid of Hell") is a small, deep-sea cephalopod found throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world. Unique retractile sensory filaments justify the vampire squid's placement in its own order: Vampyromorphida (formerly Vampyromorpha), which shares similarities with both squid and octopodes. As a phylogenetic relict it is the only known surviving member of its order, first described and originally classified as an octopus in 1903 by German teuthologist Carl Chun, but later assigned to a new order together with several extinct taxa.
candidates: animal architeuthidae cephalopoda mesonychoteuthis mollusca mya octopus olfactores vampyromorphida vampyroteuthis
answer: vampyromorphida