Octopuses steal half coconut shells, "walk" away with them, make homes out of one or both halves!

[Peace Patriot]

Here's a very funny video (and article) on these actual TRUE events in the waters off Australia.

Diver "almost drowned laughing" when he saw it.

It is "the first example of tool use in octopuses"!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8408233.stm?ls

------------------------------

Score one for the invertebrates!

:thumbsup: :applause: :thumbsup:

[flvegan]

1. That's a pretty amazing video.

Brilliant critters, them.

[xultar]

2. That was some funny shit!!!!

[YOY]

3. I've heard from an Ichthyologist that the intelligence of cephalopods is strange.

They display some characteristics that show that they are smart...scary smart at times. They have memory skills too. I recall something about a comparison to chimps at times.

As compared to fish...which are really dumb as door-nails. Sorry fish lovers.

[backscatter712]

14. They are indeed very intelligent.

As are similar mollusks like large squids and cuttlefish.

I've heard a few stories from people who have kept pet octopuses. They'll recognize their owners by sight, looking out of their aquariums, they can be trained, and they'll quickly learn to eat from their owner's hands. I've been told you have to put things in their aquariums, like sections of PVC pipes and various toys to stimulate them, and give them little hideouts. The top of the aquarium also has to be secured to keep the octopus from escaping - they can squeeze themselves through openings barely larger than their beaks.

Cuttlefish are also awesome - they have insanely good eyesight, and their skin puts chameleons to shame - their skin is like a 200dpi display device. Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF-jHp-5XfU

Some cuttlefish will pulsate or strobe their skin to make these freaky psychedelic patterns that they uses to mesmerize prey long enough to catch them, and then when the scuba diver in the video touches him, he immediately switches his skin to camouflage mode and makes himself look like a piece of coral.

[kestrel91316]

17. Predators are always smarter than their respective prey, IIRC.

[YOY]

18. Not neccesarily...

Sharks.

[kestrel91316]

19. People who swim where there are sharks are pretty f---in' dumb if you

ask me, lol. I won't go in the ocean since I saw the movie Jaws.......

[YOY]

21. Ah, but people aren't natural prey of sharks.

n.t

[pleah]

4. K&R Very intelligent creatures.

I will never eat an Octopus.

[Hamlette]

5. funny stuff n/t

[stuntcat]

6. O. M. G!!!

it's frickin' ADORABLE :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

thank you!!

[liberal N proud]

7. Cool

[YankeyMCC]

8. It could've been funnier

... he could've clapped the coconut halves against each other as he ran ;)

[damntexdem]

10. Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?

[YankeyMCC]

23. No, but they could've been carried

by migrating octopii

[damntexdem]

9. As easy as octopi!

I'm shell shocked! ;-)

[Warpy]

11. This is why I think cephalopods are going to be the next

dominant intelligent species when our time runs out.

Ever see the film of the octopus unscrewing the lid on a jar to get at the food inside it?

These are smart critters.

[Peace Patriot]

15. Crows in the air. Octopi in the sea. And what on land--spiders?

There are some intelligent crow videos at that same site that will knock you out. They are VERY SMART. I also saw a David Attenborough "Birds" thing, where crows with nuts in their beaks watched over vehicle intersections with stoplights, dropped a nut onto the pedestrian cross walk on the red light, to get it crushed by the cars when the light turned green, then flew down and waited for the frigging green light to trot out into the cross walk to retrieve the nutmeat. I mean, talk about OBSERVATION and THINKING THINGS THROUGH.

And spiders! Wow! They were the original Pythagoreans! Very esoteric critters, with whole libraries on mathematics in their tiny brains.

Think of a world run by crows, octopi and spiders--with maybe some quota of dolphins, elephants and other smart big animals permitted to be senators (as long as they didn't eat the ruling executives). It would be an interesting world, to say the least.

:bounce:

[tinrobot]

20. Raccoons and their opposable thumbs.

[Gregorian]

12. Haha. Cue the Benny Hill theme music!

That is hilarious. Free building materials.

Now this is how we should all be spending our time. There's way too much fun to be had with the crazy animals on this planet.

[whosinpower]

13. Dang octopusses

Do you think they have....turtle envy?

[jberryhill]

16. A Spineless Act Of Thievery /nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

22. Octopuses have self awareness

like porpoises, humans and some birds

I've been amazed at the cleverness I've seen of octopuses
Kool video.... thanks