|
|
Article: Smart suckers: discover why scientists think octopuses and their relatives are such brainiacs.(LIFE: ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS)(Cover story)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- September 3, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Snuggled in the corner of a glass aquarium, a brown-and-white female octopus awaits breakfast. The animal's eight limbs are a bit curled and its eyes look upward to meet the gaze of biologist Jean Boal of Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
Boal plops pieces of squid into the tank and proceeds down the row of octopus tanks, giving each resident a snack. When she returns to the first octopus's tank, she notices something odd: The octopus has yet to eat the food and is just staring at her. "The octopus kept eye contact with me while she swam across the tank and pushed her squid down the drain," says Boal. "It was pretty clear that she didn't like the food."
...