Octopus Genome Sequenced

An anonymous reader writes: A large, international team of researchers has completed the full sequencing of the octopus genome. "The researchers discovered striking differences between the genomes of the octopus and other invertebrates, including widespread rearrangements of genes and a dramatic expansion of a family of genes involved in neuronal development that was once thought to be unique to vertebrates." Among other things, the data allows scientists to more deeply analyze the creature's unique nervous system. "The central brain surrounds the esophagus, which is typical of invertebrates, but it also has groups of neurons in the arms that can work relatively autonomously, plus huge optic lobes involved in vision." Their study has been published in Nature.

Comments

Prime example of why intelligence is rare

[gurps_npc]

The stronger and better a creature, the less need for it to be intelligent.

An octopus developed it's high intelligence as a by product of learning how to use so many arms. But simply because it was more efficient to put the neurons in the arms, it makes it harder to steal those neurons to use for other purposes and allow those arms to vesitgilize, the way homonids vestigialized our jaw muscles, freeing up the skull for brains rather than muscles and bone.