The Octopus Is Smart as Heck, But Why?

Post by PeterisP » Sun, Dec 02, 2018, 1:43 PM UTC

rococode wrote: post #82

hanniabu wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why aren't all birds as smart as crows? They have similar anatomy.

What I've read is that crows are smart for the same reason that dolphins are smart ("social intelligence"). Crows also tend to live in flocks/groups, unlike many other bird species. Not a great source, but here's an excerpt explaining that they tend to grow up in groups: But growing up is a different story. During younger years, they often live in larger flocks dubbed juvenile gangs. "It's exactly how it sounds: they…

Post by doctorgene » Sun, Dec 02, 2018, 2:10 PM UTC

jaggednad wrote: post #37

One theory why primates evolved big brains is because they had hands. Big brains for an animal like a gazelle don’t pay off because, without hands, there isn’t much a gazelle can do with that big brain. Better it use that energy for bigger leg muscles. Primates evolves hands so they could better grasp branches, but, once they had hands, there was a lot more they could do with them, like make tools. A bigger brain for…

Post by doctorgene » Sun, Dec 02, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

doctorgene wrote: post #123

jaggednad wrote: post #37

One theory why primates evolved big brains is because they had hands. Big brains for an animal like a gazelle don’t pay off because, without hands, there isn’t much a gazelle can do with that big brain. Better it use that energy for bigger leg muscles. Primates evolves hands so they could better grasp branches, but, once they had hands, there was a lot more they could do with them, like make tools. A bigger brain for…

[flagged]

Post by jlawson » Sun, Dec 02, 2018, 4:29 PM UTC

insulanus wrote: post #74

jlawson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the lack of thrown weapons would be more basic than fire. Maybe even held weapons for striking enemies. You can't swing a club underwater due to water resistance, and spears are hard to use well because you don't have feet planted to transmit the force, so you just go backwards if you try to stab something. Not to mention the lack of trees and branches with straight poles. Meanwhile stone tools and weapons ar…

You could fire projectiles, like a blow gun. A poison-tipped dart could be made to work underwater.

Post by tozeur » Sun, Dec 02, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

mynameishere wrote: post #49

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #2

In case you missed it, this out-of-the-water predatory behavior of an octopus is astounding to us mid-west folks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fZu-1bt6Y

Another vicious attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbLFXqhbQM