Recently I met author Sy Montgomery, who writes primarily about animals, on a flight. We talked about a great many things including her current project which is a book on octopuses (octopodes if you really want to be that guy). She was on her way to observe octopuses mating at a large aquarium on the West Coast. In the course of our conversation she mentioned that octopuses have also been observed using tools on multiple occasions and even piling rocks in a deliberate manner, for example to create a barrier in front of a hollow. Octopuses are really fascinating creatures and according to Montgomery, they can even form bonds with humans, which is displayed by reacting in various ways when said humans come into view. It really makes me wonder what would happen if octopuses lived beyond their first mating. As this article briefly mentions, their limbs are very "smart," creating a body awareness and utility that I think would be incredibly useful in affecting change in the world around such a species, were it longer lived. Anyway, cool article. Also, I think this is the second article by De Waal that I've read in as many days. I'll have to keep an eye on this guy.
Haha. I will be that guy about octopodes, but mainly because I think it's interesting what causes a word to take on that ending. I also happen to be 'that guy' when platypuses (platypodes) come up in discussion...although I think both plurals are accepted. I have always wondered why we humans assume animals are so dumb. It seems to be basically that "because they are different from us, they can't possibly be capable of higher order thinking." That never has seemed like an intelligent supposition to me. This article is nice for me because I think it affirms, for me, what I had suspected: that animals can be very intelligent, it's just in different ways, maybe in ways that humans don't initially value (like, animals don't value commerce/economy the way we do; that doesn't mean they're dumb, though). I'm interested to see what more research turns up.
Keep a close eye on his stats he tends to be a bit fast and lose.