Octopuses ‘are aliens’, scientists decide after DNA study
Comment author image Rob Waugh
Wednesday 12 Aug 2015 2:02 pm What do you call an tiny octopus with big eyes, gelatinous skin and is cute as a button? Nobody knows quite yet! Stephanie Bush of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute aims to classify and name this presently undescribed deep-sea cephalopod using preserved specimens and a clutch of eggs hatch housed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Picture Monterey Bay aquarium
Not to freak you out or anything, but scientists have just revealed that octopuses are so weird they’re basically aliens. The first full genome sequence shows of that octopuses (NOT octopi) are totally different from all other animals – and their genome shows a striking level of complexity with 33,000 protein-coding genes identified, more than in a human.
here we were thinking it was quite freaky enough when they learned how to open jam jars. US researcher Dr Clifton Ragsdale, from the University of Chicago, said: ;The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving abilities.
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