This could help scientists uncover the origin of social behavior in all animals.
Researchers develop octopus skin-inspired infrared camouflage
The advancement could help hide objects from heat sensors.
The mysterious deep-sea Dumbo octopus hatchlings look just like adults [with video]
These hatchlings emerge fully-formed, ready to take on the world from day one.b
Artificial camouflage skin mimics the octopus’ unparalleled morphing
The amazing camo-skin was funded by the military and could one day make its way into the battlefield.
Biologists just discovered an underwater octopus city — they call it Octlantis
Ever wondered what an octopus city looks like?
Thought octopuses only live in water? Watch David Attenborough explain how the only land octopus hunts
If you thought octopuses were amazing, wait ’till you see this.
The best-fossilized octopus we’ve ever found gets recreated in 3D to understand their evolution
They changed surprisingly little.
This oddball octopus mates with its mouth and is actually social
Octopuses are like aliens and there are few creatures weirder than these eight legged critters. They survive freezing waters, perceive light through their skin, are masters of camouflage and can do many other things, some still oblivious to science. One uncanny feature of octopuses is their mating behavior or social order. Most octopus species mate at a distance, with the male using its reproductive arm to reach the female’s mantle. They have to do this to avoid being cannibalized by the female. Either way, once the job is done, the male dies while females only lives a little longer, just enough to lay the eggs. That’s the peak of both the octopus’ sex and social life. Besides a few instances, octopuses live their lives in isolation, alone in some shell or barren rock. However, there’s one octopus that seems to be totally different, even human-like: the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus.
Octopus genome finally unraveled, and this is a big deal
The mystery of the octopus genome has finally been solved, and this will allow researchers to answer some intriguing questions: how does it regenerate so well? How does it control its 8 flexible arms and over 1000 suckers? How do they camouflage and mimic the environment, and most importantly – how did a relative of the snail become so incredibly smart?
Octopus is so cute that ‘Adorable’ might become its name
Among the best thing about being a biologist is you get to name things when you discover it. Now, a marine researcher in California will name one of the cutest invertebrates we’ve ever seen: so adorable, that it might actually be named ‘adorabilis’.
More than meets the eye: Octopus can perceive light directly through its skin
Biologists have long suspected that cephalopods like the squid and cuttlefish have specialized proteins embedded in their skin, very similar to those found in the eye, which they can use to perceive light, and maybe even colour. Where previously attempts failed, a team at University of California at Santa Barbara now offers conclusive evidence that octopuses can ‘see’ with their skin. Namely, they can definitely perceive light characteristics like wavelengths, brightness and such, but not edges or contrast. So, you might as well add full body vision to the list of awesome octopus features: master of disguise, elegance in chaos, survival in sub-freezing Antarctic temperatures or special untangling switches. But hey, who’s counting anymore. As much as octopuses are weird, they’re just as fascinating!
The seemingly chaotic, but elegant movement of the octopus: how it pulls it off
Despite lacking a rigid skeleton, octopuses have a remarkable coordinated locomotion. Using high-speed cameras, a group at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found the octopus achieves this by precisely and independently moving one or more of its eight legs to crawl its body, even when its facing a different direction. Moreover, there is no discernible rhythm or pattern to this undulating leg movement, making the octopus unique in this respect. It’s controlled chaos, and only the octopus itself completely knows how it pulls all this off.
How Antarctic octopuses survive in freezing waters
Octopus species that live in ice-cold Antarctic waters employ an unique strategy to transport oxygen to its tissue and survive, according to German researchers. The study suggests the octopuses’ specialized pigments, analogous to hemoglobin in vertebrates, are in higher concentration in the Antarctic region than in warmer waters. This would help to explain why octopuses are more adapted to climate change and warming waters
“I wanted to take a picture of an octopus… but the octopus took pictures of me”
How the tables have turned! While documenting the experiments conducted on campus, Benjamin Savard, a digital media producer at Middlebury College, wanted to take some underwater pictures of an octopus. But the octopus had other plans. It grabbed the camera and turned it on Savard, who posted the photos and GIF of the entire sequence on Reddit. “I was just trying to brainstorm
Why octupus arms never get entangled
Roboticists and mechanical engineers hold octopuses to great respect and admiration because of their many skills, like great water propulsion, camouflage and independent limbs. Each octopus tentacle is equipped with numerous suckers that allows it to easily cling to most surfaces, no matter how smooth they may be. Whether the octopus needs to attach itself to a surface or run
Squishy robot camouflages itself effortlessly and blends in [VIDEO]
After UAVs inspired by hawks, robotic stability control spun from leaping lizards, wall climbing derived from geckos or the swimming artificial jellyfish made from rat cells, in yet another remarkable feat of robotics which draws inspiration from nature scientists at Harvard University have created a robot which mixes the blending capabilities of a squid with the locomotion mechanics of a sea creature.
The fish that mimics the mimicking octopus
Off the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia, dwells the Thaumoctopus mimicus commonly refered to as the mimic octopus, a remarkable animal capable of changing its shape and size to take the form of a jellyfish, a lion fish or even a crab or shrimp, among many other, for both protection against predators and as a shrewd disguise for hunting pray easier.
Octomom gives birth to thousands of octopus sons – all caught on tape
Giving birth is definitely not something you see everyday, but an octopus giving birth – that’s something you may never see. However, thanks to the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, you get a chance to see just that: a species of Caribbean Octopus vulgaris giving birth. They took the octopus in captivity, and just
The octopus and the beer bottle
Someone’s thrash is another one’s treasure – this old saying has an entirely different meaning for an octopus. The little guy found a beer bottle on the seafloor, and it’s just big enough that it can squeeze in and out – though why you would want to come out of a beer bottle after you got inside is beyond me.
Octopus with venom that works in freezing temperatures discovered
Boy, you just can’t have enough octopus, that’s for sure – they’re really amazing creatures, that often surprise us. Now, a venomous octopus living in the frozen waters of Antarctica is definitely awesome, but how is this useful? Well, according to Bryan Fry, of the University of Melbourne, it is. He and his team have been studying how evolution changed
