#cephalod — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #cephalod, aggregated by home.social.
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A rudimentary look at the cephalopod nervous system reveals that there is more than one way to construct a large, smart brain. For starters, cephalopod brains are doughnut-shaped organs built around the oesophagus (see ‘Unusual anatomy’). Moreover, a large number of a cephalopod’s neurons — more than half in the case of octopuses — are located in the eight nerve cords, or minibrains, that control the arms. -
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In many species, the sucker-covered arms can even regenerate.
These invertebrates have evolved independently from the vertebrate lineage for more than 600 million years. Their last common ancestor was probably a worm-like creature with a rudimentary nervous system and eye-like patches of light-sensitive cells. Despite this evolutionary gulf, vertebrates and these highly specialized molluscs share strange similarities. Their eyes, for example. -
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Cuttlefish, squid and octopuses have excellent memories, use tools and are adept problem-solvers; they have a concept of time and are capable of delayed gratification.Three hearts; blue blood; no skeleton; arms like tongues. These are just some of the alien features of octopuses, squid and cuttlefish — members of the cephalopod family. The outlandish list continues. Cephalopod skin can taste chemicals, sense light and change colour and texture rapidly.
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Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart?
Around 400 million years ago, cuttlefish, squid and octopuses diverged from the only other living cephalopods — the nautiluses. They then lost their protective shells and evolved brains that are uniquely large among invertebrates. These brains bestow the soft-bodied cephalopods with high intelligence.