As of this week, I finally decided that I will be studying my IRP on octopus behavior instead of studying sharks. They're my favorite animal so this is perfect! I have read articles and watched many videos on the intelligence of octopus and have always been fascinated by their capabilities that have been so underestimated until recent years. This article called,
"How Smart is an Octopus?" really goes into detail about what the intelligence of an octopus really is and some of the amazing skills it's learned. Octopi have been known to mimic other animals, disguise themselves as coral by changing colors and even being enclosed in a jar and freeing itself (watch it
here). When they talk about the "intelligence" of an octopus, they're not talking about the IQ score of and octopus but the adaptations and skills they're brains have evolved to be able to accomplish. I also found it quite amazing learning that they have about half a billion neurons in their lobed "diffuse net" which is much like human brains; AND they also have the biggest brains of all invertebrates.
I think all of this is so fascinating that I am planning on working with an octopus at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet to possibly do some behavior tests on it. There are many possibilities for what I could research, but finding one to really put to the test is hard to find. I would love to try and "teach" the octopus how to do something such as open a jar to get food out or even try and reinact the same octopus in the YouTube video freeing itself from a jar. I will be talking with Chad Macfie in charge of the Marine Science Center Aquariums about some other ideas I could possibly do with the octopus.
On a side note, this is going to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done and possibly one of the happiest days of my life. I have always wanted to work with an octopus one on one and I now will have my chance! I don't think anyone understands just how excited I am!
Taylor--some further instructions on developing your blog. You have two pictures. Please use the 'caption' command to tell the reader what they are seeing and possibly what they have to do with your specific topic (other than the fact they are pics of octopi).
ReplyDeleteQuestions for next week--what species of octopus will you be working with and where was your octopus collected from? Tell us more about it's size, adaptation strategies (e.g., does it change color) and when/why they use them.
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ReplyDeleteT Singleton, OCE2013 UR; I read that this animal has 3 hearts and so does a squid, maybe there is another animal that is as smart as adaptable as an octopus.
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