Octopi Can Use Tools
A new study found that the veined octopus is able to use a coconut shell as a protective shield.
An octopus would dig up the two halves of a coconut shell, then use them as protective shielding when stopping in exposed areas or when resting in sediment.
This, on its own, astonished the team. Then they noticed that the octopuses, after using the coconut shells, would arrange them neatly below the centers of their bodies and “walk” around with the shells — awkwardly.
Horrible as cephalopods are, these little guys running around with their coconut shells are actually kinda cute.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 12:46 am and is filed under animals, science, video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
3 Responses to “Octopi Can Use Tools”
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Andrea said on December 16, 2009 at 11:18 pm:
I wonder if there are aliens somewhere watching us on their interwebs saying, “wow, that’s adorable, look what they’re trying to do now – horrible as those humanoids are”
Harry said on December 17, 2009 at 12:40 am:
I hope so! “Humans are horrible, but this blog is adorable!” is an alien analysis I could be proud of.