Amazingly cute TOOL USING octopus!

[theweaselking]

Quoth the finder:

How do you define tool use? I came across the little octopus on a night dive. He was walking around carrying two halves of a shell with him.

When threatened, he closed himself up inside the shell. Now many animals, like the hermit crab, adopt a shell for protection but in this case the octopus carried around two sides that he knew fit together. That comes close to tool use in my book.

An Ocean World Podcast about the Blanket Octopus provides an even better case of tool use. The Blanket Octopus is famous for sexual dimorphism, the male being much smaller (2cm) than the female (6ft). But the really cool thing, in my opinion, is the way the tiny male uses jellyfish tentacles. Apparently he gathers the living stinging tentacles from jelly fish, holds them between his suckers, and wields them when threatened."




(taken from wtf_nature)

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_jeremiad/]

Sometimes, I wish I was an octopus. They have superpowers.

[aelfie.livejournal.com]

Okay, you are right, that is waaaaaay too cute.

Smart little fella

[cmpriest.livejournal.com]

Aw. He's adorable.

[sterlingspider.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeee! So cute!

[fearmeforiampink]

IIRC, a program about what would happen if we were wiped out had, after a long time octopi becoming the next likely sentient species.

Having appropriate stuff to use tools with makes developing your intelligence far more practically useful.

[cyprinella]

Yeah, I came across a quote once about the reason they aren't the top species basically boils down to the fact that they have pretty inefficent hemoglobin and tire out very very quickly. Otherwise you'd probably be reading this book with your tentacles.

[gothpanda.livejournal.com]

I saw a program once where some scientists said that octopi are as clever as dogs. I've wanted one as a pet ever since.

[hypatiasghost.livejournal.com]

They're escape artists, too, from what I've heard. *grins* I've wanted one as a pet for awhile, too.

[gothpanda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was the special where they show the octopus who was sneaking from his own tank every night into the tank across the room to eat the fish, bewildering his keepers who didn't know what was happening to the fish. They also showed an octopus slinking through a maze of pvc pipe that kept getting narrower and narrower, it was amaaaaazing. I wish I could get by without a skeleton!

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Octopi are seriously awesome. I researched a ton about them for a story I wrote during Clarion. They are so cool, I won't even mind too much when they take over the world.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

They also don't live very long (at least, some species don't) which makes it hard to pass on information, culture, etc.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I love that your icon incorporates Softer World AND XKCD. (That's my favorite Softer World, too.)

[hypatiasghost.livejournal.com]

*grin* Thanks. It isn't my favorite Softer World-- "I Still Sing" is my desktop background-- but it's absolutely my mantra for existence right now.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

AND you have an awesome username. I read somewhere that there's a movie about her in the works, though I can't find the reference now.