Aussie Scientists Find Coconut-Carrying Octopus

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from an AP report: "Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot. ... 'I was gobsmacked,' said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. 'I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh.'"

Re:What do you mean?

[hardburn]

The Monty Python joke wasn't the first post on this story? Fail.

Evidence of considerable cleverness...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Luckily for us, octopuses live underwater, so they won't have the chance to develop the use of fire, and are nonsocial and fairly short lived, so they won't have the chance to pass on knowledge from one to another.

Were it not for that, we would probably be fighting for our lives against the many-legged hordes of the deep.

Re:Intelligent

[zippyspringboard]

Because it shows them using this intelligence in the wild, in a natural setting, presumably without human prompting. It's probably not surprising at all to those who study them, but science tends to demand evidence....

Re:Not funny?

[ColdWetDog]

Why would you try not to laugh? Afraid of hurting the octo's feelings?

While he may be a perfectly sensitive, metrosexual kind of guy, the immediate problem is that he was diving with SCUBA gear. Full out ROTFL in a SCUBA set can be a bit problematic. Deep gasps of water can ruin your day.

Re:Intelligent

[c6gunner]

I thought it was understood that octopi have primate-level intelligence. Why is this so surprising?

In the same sense that it's understood that Russels Teapot is filled with Earl Gray rather than Darjeeling.

It's widely accepted that octopuses are probably more intelligent than any other invertebrates. That's a long way from putting them on the same level as primates.

Re:African or European?

[xaositects]

no no, they'd have to have it on a line or something.

Re:What do you mean?

[cthulhu11]

Am I the only one who's tired of this hipster "fail" crap?