The Future of Camouflage: Mimicking Cephalopods’ Color-Changing Ability
The skin of cephalopods (animals with tentacles attached to the head) exhibits an extraordinary capacity for camouflage in the wild. Their skin is composed of…
Cephalopod News
Harvard Scientists Reveal How Squid and Octopus Get Their Big Brains
Cephalopods were found to have similar brain development to vertebrates in a new study. Cephalopods, which include octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, exhibit impressive behaviors such…
Highly Intelligent: What Octopus and Human Brains Have in Common
Cephalopods like octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish are highly intelligent animals with complex nervous systems. A team of researchers has now shown that their evolution is…
Strange Shell-Like Egg Case and the Secrets of Octopus Evolution
New research indicates that a type of octopus appears to have evolved independently to develop something resembling a shell, despite having lost the genetic code…
Chameleons of the Sea: Cuttlefish Camouflage May Be More Complex Than Previously Thought
Research suggests that European cuttlefish use a more complex strategy than previously thought to camouflage themselves within underwater surroundings. According to a new study, European…
Gruesome Octopus Death Spiral: Bizarre Self-Mutilation in Mothers Linked to Cholesterol
Changes in cholesterol production lead to a tragic octopus death spiral. New research finds remarkable parallels in steroid hormone biology across cephalopods, mice, and humans…
Wonderfully Weird Creatures: Squid and Octopus Genomes Reveal How Cephalopods’ Unique Traits Evolved
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish – even to scientists who study them – are wonderfully weird creatures. Known as the soft-bodied or coleoid cephalopods, they have…
Amazing Video Captures Squid Using Color-Matching Camouflage for the First Time
While octopus and cuttlefish are famous for their use of camouflage to match the color of the substrate, a third type of cephalopod—the squid—has never…
New Species of Extinct Vampire-Squid-Like Vampyropod Had 10 Functional Arms
Description of exceptionally preserved fossil pushes back age of Vampyropoda by nearly 82 million years. New research led by scientists at the American Museum of…
Hail to the Squid – New Species of Extinct Vampire-Squid-Like Cephalopod With 10 Arms Named After Biden
Hail to the squid — A vampyropod fit for a president Researchers at Yale and the American Museum of Natural History have identified the earliest…
Scientists Succeed in Culturing the Pygmy Zebra Octopus – The Size of a Grain of Rice When They Hatch
For generations, scientists have relied on a handful of organisms to study the fundamentals of biology. The usual suspects—fruit flies, zebrafish, and mice, among others—all…
Unlike Humans, Cuttlefish Retain Sharp Memory of Specific Events in Old Age
Cuttlefish can remember what, where, and when specific events happened – right up to their last few days of life, researchers have found. The results,…
Study Shows That Cephalopods Travel Faster in Air Than in Water
A new study, using high-speed photography, shows that squids can save energy by flying rather than swimming. Some species of Cephalopoda can launch themselves into…