For centuries, the kraken was a creature of human imagination, the giant octopus that would coil around ships and drag them to the bottom of the sea to devour their sailors, according to legend. A study published this Thursday in the journal Science demonstrates that the legend had an astonishing paleontological basis: in the oceans of the Late Cretaceous, between 100 and 72 million years ago, there existed giant octopuses that could reach 19 meters in length, were carnivorous, and occupied the top of the food chain, competing with the large marine reptiles that until now were considered the sole rulers of those seas.

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