December 14, 2009
In the octopus's garden
Underwater footage reveals that the creatures scoop up halved coconut shells before scampering away with them so they can later use them as shelters.Full article and video here.Writing in the journal Current Biology, the team says it is the first example of tool use in octopuses.
One of the researchers, Dr Julian Finn from Australia's Museum Victoria, told BBC News: "I almost drowned laughing when I saw this the first time."
Posted by David on December 14, 2009 10:50 PM
We should not be really surprised at the complex behavior of octopus and their relatives, squids. After all, these are animals with remarkable eyes, complicated brains, a natural jet propulsion mechanism and many arms that need to be coordinated. Cephalopods have been around a very long time and lived in a challenging environment where selective pressured favored complexity in all aspects of their lives. I suspect we are just barely able to scratch the surface of the "intelligence" of these and many other animal species.
Posted by: Donald Wolberg on December 14, 2009 11:02 PM
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