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RE: Pacific Brood - 50 word short - and an homage to mothers

in #fiftywords7 years ago

What a delightful post. Not only a charming fiftyword story but then a further one to boot. Can I ask whether Gilligan's eyes are visible in those photos?

I think over the last year the two species that have blown themselves inspirationally into my mind the most are cephalopods and fungi. I read about an amazing octopus in I think it was The Atlantic, and it blew my eyes open as to how intelligent these amazing animals are.

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Thank you very much Sue. Yes, you can make out one of her eyes in the first two photos.

They are very intelligent, but what's even more impressive is their neurological composition. They have a "main" brain that is in charge of a network of "brains" in each tentacle. It's believed that the tentacles can work independently--the octopus gives the command to move that direction and the arms carry out the order. When it comes to details tasks or fine motor skills, the octopus can take direct control over a couple tentacles to tackle the job. Pretty wildly different than what we're used to in our own brain function and that of most all the animal kingdom. Cool stuff!

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