[Coral-List] Yes, the Octopus Is Smart as Heck. But Why?

[Matt Nolan]

I saw something recently about the genetics of brain circuitry re the
perception of time.

I wonder if the octopus doesn't perceive the passing of time at a much
higher rate.

So to the octopus, two years of octopus life seems like 10-20 years of
how human perceive time?

On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 9:15 AM Michael Newkirk
<michaeljnewkirk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Eduardo,
>
> Fascinating! Thank you for your input.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Michael.
> Chief Editor
> WordsRU
>
> On Thu, Dec 13, 2018 at 7:37 AM Eduardo Sampaio via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Just want to give some feedback on this interesting discussion. Octopuses
>> do not have small brains, especially in brain/body relation. They are the
>> only invertebrates which brain-body relative size rivals that of
>> vertebrates (see for example J.Z. Young's papers from last century). Plus,
>> as many of you were saying, 2/3 of their 500 million neurons are located
>> outside of the brain, since they evolved from "ladder" architectures, in
>> opposition to the centralized architecture of vertebrates. Thus, this
>> actually makes up for a higher number of neurons then at least some
>> vertebrates have, which made some researchers start studying the concept of
>> "distributed intelligence".
>>
>> What makes cephalopod researchers most puzzled is finding the evolutionary
>> need for such a short lived animal (most live up only to two years), to
>> invest so much in neural tissue and cognitive capacities. Most research
>> points to the losing of their external shell as the primary factor for
>> this, but this is still a subject of much discussion.
>>
>> All the best,
>> Eduardo
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 12, 2018, 16:42 Matt Nolan via Coral-List <
>> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov wrote:
>>
>> > Why?
>> >
>> > My guess is they got the key random genetic permutation in the genome
>> > that gave their brain the unique circuitry needed to be smart.
>> >
>> > They were evolving and they hit the random mutation jackpot.
>> >
>> > And the challenging nature of their environmental aided in the change
>> > sticking because it was an advantageous change.
>> >
>> > of course, the specifics of the genetic change, is the interesting part
>> > On Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 9:23 AM Douglas Fenner
>> > <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > It has eight arms, three hearts — and a plan. Scientists aren’t sure how
>> > > the cephalopods got to be so intelligent.
>> > >
>> > > Read More... <https://nyti.ms/2DTnFOa?smid=nytcore-ios-share>
>> > >
>> > > They talk about big brains, but actually Octopus and other cephalopods
>> > > don't have big brains, their brains are about the size of a rice grain.
>> > > Which just makes their intelligence all the more surprising and puzzling,
>> > > it seems to me.  But the cephalopods are all fabulous creatures.
>> > >
>> > > There are links to several other interesting cephalopod stories at the
>> > end
>> > > of this story.
>> > >
>> > > Cheers, Doug
>> > > --
>> > > Douglas Fenner
>> > > Ocean Associates, Inc. Contractor
>> > > NOAA Fisheries Service
>> > > Pacific Islands Regional Office
>> > > Honolulu
>> > > and:
>> > > Consultant
>> > > PO Box 7390
>> > > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>> > >
>> > > Global warming will happen faster than we think.
>> > >
>> > > https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07586-5
>> > >
>> > > Nations falling short of emissions cuts set by Paris climate pact,
>> > analysis
>> > > finds
>> > >
>> > >
>> > http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/nations-falling-short-emissions-cuts-set-paris-climate-pact-analysis-finds?utm_campaign=news_daily_2018-11-28&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=2515903
>> > >
>> > > Climate change poses major threat to the US, new government report
>> > concludes
>> > >
>> > >
>> > http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/climate-change-poses-major-threat-us-new-government-report-concludes?utm_campaign=news_daily_2018-11-26&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=2511504
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