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Walking octopi!

toddjh

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Just when you thought these things couldn't get any stranger! Be sure to check out the videos.

I'm not too interested in a lot of <strike>seafood</strike> marine animals, but octopi are just too cool.

Jeremy
 
It's harder in air, mind. Still, octopi is cunning beggars. Darn smart for molluscs. Pretty smart by any standard in fact.
 
Yeah, let's see him come out of the ocean and help me move a couch?!

Still, I was quite impressed by the video. When reading the story, I assumed the definition of "walking" was going to be so open that the story wouldn't really mean much. But as I watched the physical movement, I must admit... that is a clear stride and not really something you can easily dismiss. That certainly appears to be genuine walking.
 
I think I'm almost as impressed with the funky way that one octopus holds its tentacles to look like a plant as with the fact that it's walking. That is some serious muscle control and some pretty good camouflage! If I didn't already know what it was, I'd be hard-pressed to guess.

Jeremy
 
Those creatures looked a little too Cthuloid for comfort. The photographers may be getting too close to places and things they ought not to be messin' wit'.
 
Walter Wayne said:
If they evolve opposable thumbs, humanity is so screwed.
Click to expand...


Fugedaboutit!

They already have that beat. Their tentacles with attached suction cups are already superior to the opposable thumb. They have superior dexterity now.

They just haven't felt sufficient environmental pressures to drive them from their nutrient rich environment and encroach on ours... well, that and maybe the whole skeletal structure thing.
 
Psi Baba said:
Those creatures looked a little too Cthuloid for comfort. The photographers may be getting too close to places and things they ought not to be messin' wit'.
Click to expand...

You should see their cousin, the cuttlefish. (Try a google images search for 'cuttlefish')

If they weren't an average of about a foot long, I'm sure they'd find the Earth an appetizing treat.

The cuttlefish also can change colors, and can ink like some octopuses and squid do.

If you're wondering about the use "octpuses," it's actually preferred according to the two dictionaries I consulted.

I recently studied up a bit on cephalopods. :)

Edit to add:

And apparently you can enjoy the flavor of an elder god today, if you choose:

http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?snack_code=352

Too bizarre.
 
scribble said:
You should see their cousin, the cuttlefish. (Try a google images search for 'cuttlefish')

If they weren't an average of about a foot long, I'm sure they'd find the Earth an appetizing treat.

The cuttlefish also can change colors, and can ink like some octopuses and squid do.

And apparently you can enjoy the flavor of an elder god today, if you choose:

http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?snack_code=352

Too bizarre.
Click to expand...
Yeah, cuttlefish are cool. That snack is indeed bizarre. I liked their aroma description: "Aroma: Just horrible. Don't smell them, just taste them."
Hmm. You can finish your own jokes at home, folks.
 
scribble said:
If you're wondering about the use "octpuses," it's actually preferred according to the two dictionaries I consulted.
Click to expand...

A marine biologist of my acquaintance reckons "Octopodes" is even more correct. But he concedes that "Octopuses" gets you fewer funny looks, plus the opportunity to be patronising when someone tries to correct him with "Octopi".
 
Yes. The thing is, "octopus" is a Greek noun of the third declension, not a Latin noun of the second declension. Practice saying this in a manner at once haughty and offhand. Pedantry can be fun!
 
Dr Adequate said:
Yes. The thing is, "octopus" is a Greek noun of the third declension, not a Latin noun of the second declension. Practice saying this in a manner at once haughty and offhand. Pedantry can be fun!
Click to expand...

And praytell, what do the various Greek declensions look like?

Please use the best availible transliteration.

And make sure to list any ways that the case uses differ from Latin.
 
Most octopus have a 6 - 18 month lifespan. The longest-lived ones are the giant pacific octopus, which live about 5 years. (generally speaking, the colder the water they live in, the longer they live) With the amount of cunning and inteligence exibited by a year old octopus, it's a good thing they don't live longer or we may not have made it to the top of the food chain.
 
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