Speaking of the octopus, many people may think of its big head and eight tentaclesAlthough this strange-looking creature has become a very common delicacy on people's tables in modern times, in ancient times, the octopus had the prestige of "sea monster".
For example, in Northern Europe, it is said that there was a terrible sea monster named Kraken, often raiding passing ships in the waters of Norway and Iceland. Among the related books,The Kraken is conceived as a giant octopus with many tentacles.
In ancient China, there were also relevant records of this kind of huge octopusFor example, in "Taiping Guangji", there is a description of "a head-like snake, as big as a giant ship", saying that there is a snake-like sea monsterLater generations believed that this may have been due to the fact that the giant octopus hid its head under the sea and had its tentacles outstretched to look like a snake, which was considered a basilisk by the people of the time.
In fact, the giant octopus does exist in modern times, that is, the king squid, which lives in the range of 200 to 400 meters underwater, in fact, it is not in the squid family, and it should be called the king squid in the strict senseThis large octopus can be up to 13 meters long, reach a maximum of 20 meters, and weigh up to 1,000 kilograms.
Scientists have removed some of the untrue and unreliable ones, based on a total of 587 events about sea monsters from 1639 to 1966The remaining 358 are true.
According to the details described by the reporter, the scientists used computer technology to conduct in-depth analysis, and finally found that one of the nine types of sea monsters listed belongs to the king squid. Their combat effectiveness is also very amazing, and they can also engage in a killing battle with sperm whales, using their tentacles to entangle sperm whales and suffocate them to death.
Of course, the octopus we generally know is not this huge, scary type, but the small, delicious common octopus, albeit on a plateBut in fact, these octopuses have very high intelligence and are considered to be primates in the ocean, the most intelligent of the invertebrates.
Some even think,If there is any creature in the ocean that can develop a society, it must be the octopus. But until now, octopus has remained an ordinary, human-eaten delicacyWhat is the reason for this?
First, let's take a brief look at how smart an octopus really is. As a link in the biological chain, the octopus is naturally and inevitably in it, it has prey to hunt and hunters to hunt it.
And in order to avoid being hunted by hunters, and to be able to better capture food,Octopuses are capable of mimicry and discoloration. This is because it has four natural pigments that can change color if neededOctopuses will shrink one of their pigments to change the color of their appearance, and can even simulate colors similar to sand, black rock crevices, etc., to deceive other creatures.
Some people may ask, isn't this a simple ability to change color, chameleons can also change color, why not say that chameleons are smart? In fact, the chameleon's ability to change color is simply a hatchet in front of the octopus, and it is not worth mentioning.
Chameleons generally change color through the color stimuli of their surroundingsIt usually takes at least 20 seconds, but the octopus can change in an instant, just like the copy**, paste** of computer photoshop software completely coincided,In addition to its color, octopuses can even change their appearance.
When it finds itself in danger,They will become like rocks and seaweeds on the bottom of the sea, even humans can't spot their traces without looking closely.
A research team in the United States accidentally found a magical octopus in the waters of the Indian Ocean, this octopus seems to be no different from other octopus species, the same head with eight tentacles, butUnder the footage of the research team, the octopus walked backwards on the bottom of the sea with two "feet", while the remaining six tentacles were hanging upwards over its head, like a coconut shell.
Another octopus that also walks with two tentacles is called the Aculites octopus, and the other six tentacles do not pretend to be coconut shellsHowever, it is capable of mimicking seaweed, which can greatly confuse passing divers or predators.
In fact, the relevant scientists have studied and analyzedIn the end, it was found that the speed of walking with two tentacles was greater than that of eight octopuses walking with tentacles, and the fastest could even reach 014 meters away.
Aside from this animal intelligence, octopuses also have the thinking ability and learning ability that only highly intelligent creatures haveThey can solve the more complex problems they encounter independentlyScientists have done a series of experiments on octopuses, such as putting a lobster that the octopus likes to eat most in a glass bottle, and then plugging the mouth of the bottle with a wooden stopperWrap the glass bottle around the glass bottle with eight tentacles and touch the bottle from all directions and angles, eventually pulling the cork off.
It's not a coincidenceAnother scientist placed an octopus from the North Pacific Ocean with a bottle that could not be opened by a childThis bottle is specially set up for the family, and it is opened in a different way than other bottles, and it is not easy to open.
For example, there are now some anti-child opening bottlesThe two-piece stacked lid will be usedThe outer and inner caps must be matched with each other, fit together and rotate at the same time, only in this way can the bottle be twisted open.
Face this specially designed cap,It took a lot of effort for the octopus, which has always been fond of drilling bottles, but it took less than an hour to twist the cap. And even in the next trialThe octopus encountered the same child-proof cap again, and it only took about 5 minutes to open the bottle.
And in a set of experiments by other scientists,Scientists put together two octopuses of different ages, each of whom could only get their food from a more complex box.
It was evident that the older octopus found the entrance to the box almost quickly and thus got its food. The younger octopus seems to have no clue at first, but after the old octopus succeeds, it seems to have learned its experience and quickly begins to eat.
These experiments are clearly able to find,Octopuses have an extremely high IQ, are able to think and learn, and gain experience.
Why do octopuses have such high intelligence? Scientists studied it intensively and found that the octopus has a number of 500 million neuronsCompared to the lobster with 100,000 neurons and the snail with 10,000 neurons, which are also marine creatures, the octopus is simply an "outlier".and far more than most mammals.
Naturally,The number of neurons does not represent the level of IQFor example, elephants have three times more neurons than humans, but it is clear that elephants do not have more IQ than humans.
In fact,The octopus has 60% of its neurons in its eight brachiopods, and the brain has only 40% of its neurons, and therefore,Octopuses have very flexible brachiopods and have independent nerve cords, can perform a variety of exercises and tasks without the domination of the brain.
At the same time,The octopus also has 9 brains, except for the main brain in the center of the brain, the other auxiliary brains are distributed on the brachiopods, the central brain gives the commander-in-chief, and then the subbrain controls the actions of the wrists and feet, which can react and move extremely quickly, and even do not bump and entangle each other.
Through DNA research, scientists have discovered that octopuses have many genes that were previously only found in vertebrates, but this is not the most amazing thing about octopusesWhat's even more surprising is that octopuses have something that even humans can't do - edit genes!
It is important to know that the vast majority of species have been genetically developed since their ancestorsOnly a small number of genes are mutated, and thus undergo different changes in the long evolutionary evolution that followedBut this change is also calculated in 10,000 years or even hundreds of thousands of years.
However, octopuses rarely have genetic mutationsBut more than 60,000 mRNAs in the brain are edited, which allows octopuses to adapt wellScientists speculate that this may have something to do with the octopus's IQ, but this is not certain and needs to be proven by follow-up studies.
Since the octopus is so smart, it has 9 brains, and it can also learn and edit genesBut why hasn't it developed its own civilization?
In fact, this is also because the octopus itself belongs to the cephalopod classThis mollusk has always had a low IQ, and even though the octopus is considered the most intelligent species of mollusks, it is also limited.
For example, even a three-year-old child, or a kitten or puppy can know that the mirror image in the mirror is actually themselvesBut the octopus is not able to detect this fact and will only think that it is the same kind.
And the differences between their genes, brains, and neurons from other organisms are only a manifestation of their long evolutionary backwardness, their nerves do not have myelin sheaths and are unable to communicate nerve messages quicklyIn order to survive, they have to develop multiple brains and a huge number of neurons to remedy, but still nothing compared to vertebrates.
In other words, put an octopus next to a cat, and the cat must win in the end.
In fact, even if the octopus really has a super high IQ,Their physiological habits also mean that they will never be able to develop a civilization. Because in general, the average lifespan of an octopus is only 3 yearsIt won't take more than 5 years at mostSuch a short growth time greatly imprisons their development.
What's more, the octopus is a very independent species, each octopus can only survive alone after being born, and cannot live with its elders, and all the learning experience and knowledge need to be explored by themselvesTherefore, even if a culture is developed, it will face the danger of breaking the inheritance.
After reading the above, perhaps we can understand that this is why octopuses seem to be so intelligent, but they are not able to develop civilization at all, human beings are still and will be the only highly intelligent creatures in the world for a long time to come. **10,000 Fans Incentive Plan