Octlantis: the underwater city built by octopuses

The discovery of aquatic architecture has led scientists to compare the behaviour of cephalopods with humans – but octopus city life is no utopiaIf animals are our other, there is nothing quite so other as the octopus. It is the alien with whom we share our planet, a coeval evolutionary life form whose slithery slipperiness and more than the requisite number of limbs (each of which contains its own “brain”) symbolise the dark mystery and fear of the deep.Now comes news that octopuses have been building their own cities down there. In a story straight out of James Cameron ’sThe Abyss, scientists have discovered that the wonderfully named “gloomy octopus”, octopus tetricus, arenot the loners we once thought them to be.Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - September 18, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Philip Hoare Tags: Marine life Source Type: news