I Love Octopuses.

Here are some reasons why.

I think they're one of the most underrated creatures in the world. In fact, I love them so much that I dedicated my first painting attempt to the octopus. But to prove how awesome they are, I've created this post to highlight their magnificence.

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1. They are Amazing Puzzle Solvers

Octopuses are master escape artists. Time to put those nine brains to work. Because they are adapters, octopuses can quickly solve environmental puzzles and get themselves out of tight situations (pun intended). Just look at that fellow go!

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2. Their Beaks are the Only Thing Stopping Them

Also, the only hard part of their body (heheh) is the beak. The rest of the octopus is just goop. This means it can squeeze through anything that its beak can fit through. Last year there was a whole series of news articles about an octopus that escaped from the aquarium, went down a pipe, and slid back into the ocean!

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3. You're Not Safe Out of Water

Octopuses can survive outside of water for 30-60 minutes. And they aren't exactly weak and vulnerable in the land environment, either....

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4. Their Camouflage Is Insane

Sure, chameleons can change color, too! But unlike the plebeian chameleon, the octopus can change color, patterns on its skin, and the texture of its skin

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5. They Hit the Ground Running

Mothers die just around the time that octopus eggs hatch. Once they lay the eggs, they spend the remainder of their lifetime caring for them and cleaning them. They don't go find food... They just stay next to their eggs 24/7. Exactly why the mothers always conveniently die around the hatching period is a very well-calculated mystery.

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6. They Have Super Intelligence

Octopuses have the largest brains of any invertebrate. In fact, their brain-to-body ratio (hypothesized to be correlated--albeit loosely--with intelligence) is higher than many intelligent animals, like dogs. Also, they have about as many neurons as a dog. But the intelligent nerves are not clumped together like a normal brain. It's actually spread out in 9 different clumps (some say they have nine brains). There is the central brain but it only contains 10% of the entire population of neurons. Another 60% actually are found in their tentacles. Can they think for themselves? Debatable.

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7. Survival Level Over 9000!!!

Sure, you know they can spit ink like a squid to demise a quick escape. And maybe you know that their beaks are very venomous. And you learned from this post that they can squeeze themselves out of any situation. But if push came to shove, they could just lose their arm and escape. Their arms can grow back! There are even records of octopuses eating their own appendages when they are bored.

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Ideally, this post gave you a new-found appreciation for the octopus. Not only are they tough lone-wolf survivors, but they also expand the human understanding of intelligence--that human intelligence isn't the only intelligence that can exist, and intelligent life within earth and maybe even outside of our planet can come in all different shapes, sizes, and phenomenal quirks.

I hope you enjoyed my post. And if you read this far, please submit a vote, a comment, and a follow! Thank you.

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Bibliography

Informational Sources

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLkKiVIBxXU
2. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Speculation_about_Why_a_female_octopus_dies_after_her_eggs_are_hatched
3. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2008/06/how_smart_is_the_octopus.html
4. https://www.livescience.com/41924-smart-octopus-facts.html
5. http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/an-octopus-has-3-hearts-9-brains-and-blue-blood/

Video Clips

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqHuTElRwmo
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcsb8RMmHRg
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kyaqI9OL-M
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar5WJrQik2o
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG6JebW63f4&t=6s
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=949eYdEz3Es