What a waste
London, England (CNN) -- Octopuses are so smart they tip-toe around awkwardly on the ocean floor hoarding coconut shells to later build themselves a fort to defend themselves from predators, a new Australian study has found.
"Amazing behavior," said Australian biologist Julian Finn of Museum Victoria in Melbourne, who first observed the octopuses' smart moves while leading a team in Indonesia.
"We were blown away," teammate Mark Norman, head of science at the Museum Victoria, said about the discovery. "It was hard not to laugh underwater and flood your (scuba) mask."
"This is an octopus that runs around collecting cups, stacking them, running along with them underneath its body, and then assembling them as perfect armour if a predator comes along," Norman said. "Planned future use."
It's that forward planning -- and use of tools -- that surprisingly makes the veined octopus one of the smartest animals on Earth.
"Using tools, something we think is very special about humans, exists in other animal groups we've never considered before," said Norman in an interview with Australian television. "A low-life form, a relative of a snail, these octopuses, they're not simple animals."
Finn and Norman were in Indonesia's north Sulawesi region looking for the mimic octopus, when they chanced across the veined octopus doing its thing.
The coconut-carrying -- and subsequent hiding -- makes the veined octopus the newest member of the animal tool-using club, scientists say, an extremely elite group in the animal kingdom.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/15/octopus.study/
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