https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Cephalopods, like the octopus, have specialized arms and suckers, but how these structures evolved from the simple bodies of their mollusk ancestors remains a mystery. Researchers from the University of Tokyo compared gene activity during embryonic development of cuttlefish, octopus and snail body parts. They found that several genes associated with appendage patterning showed expression along developing cephalopod arms, but no comparable patterns in developing suckers. Developing suckers instead expressed Ets1, a gene associated with early embryonic development in mollusks. The findings suggest cephalopods evolved suckers by reusing existing genes in new ways. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-octopus-cuttlefish-suckers-evolved-repurposing.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 09:30:01 EDT news711634621 A mollusk's microbial community has more to do with its family tree than its address. In other words, the composition of a mollusk's microbiome depends less on the environment in which it lives and more on what species it belongs to, say University of Michigan researchers. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mollusk-family-trees-play-key.html Ecology Wed, 14 Oct 2026 16:30:14 EDT news711212461 Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, collectively known as coleoid cephalopods, have evolved exceptionally large and elaborately structured nervous systems capable of complex behaviors such as problem-solving and rapid camouflage. A new study by scientists at the University of Vienna suggests that the origins of this complexity may lie not just in the genes themselves, but in how the genome is organized in 3D. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-3d-genome-entanglement-cephalopods-evolved.html Plants & Animals Fri, 09 Oct 2026 05:00:12 EDT news710674442 Scientists have known for years that squid have cells with bundles of tiny, hairlike protrusions on their heads and arms, similar to those buried deep inside the human ear that allow us to hear. Now, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have discovered that these animals have hundreds more of these cells, called hair cells, lining the entire surface of their bodies. The discovery may provide researchers with an unprecedented window into how humans use—and lose—their hearing. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-newly-hair-cells-squid-clues.html Plants & Animals Sat, 03 Oct 2026 11:00:02 EDT news710093368 Plesiosaurs swam into river deltas to vomit up shells and other indigestible elements of their marine meals, suggests new research published by Cambridge University Press. The behavior resembles that of today's fur seals and marine crocodiles. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-queasy-plesiosaurs-swam-shore-vomit.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:00:01 EDT news709201289 Cephalopods are a group of soft-bodied marine mollusks that include cuttlefish, octopuses, squid and nautiluses. Many of these mollusks have muscular suckers on their arms that allow them to seize prey or grip other surfaces in their surroundings. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-cuttlefish-suckers-reveal-rough-prey.html Plants & Animals Thu, 17 Sep 2026 07:40:04 EDT news708600523 A "peculiar" new species of Jurassic squid-like animal has been unearthed in Wyoming, U.S., following the discovery of two exceptionally rare fossils dating to around 160 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-peculiar-species-jurassic-squid-wyoming.html Evolution Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:40:01 EDT news708248042 Research led by scientists at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette challenges a long-held assumption about the effects of climate change on marine life: Warmer oceans won't simply make animals smaller. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-seas-mollusks.html Plants & Animals Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:40:03 EDT news707666701 A large-scale study of nearly 700 species reveals the evolutionary relationships and history of Neogastropoda, a diverse group of marine snails. The findings provide new evidence for their single origin, identify four new families and reveal a previously undetected burst of diversification in the early Cenozoic. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-shell-predators-early-cenozoic-boom.html Plants & Animals Mon, 24 Aug 2026 16:30:01 EDT news706806241 This year's cuttlefish season has been unlike any other. Every winter, more than 100,000 giant Australian cuttlefish can usually be found mating along the rocky coastline of Point Lowly, northeast of Whyalla, South Australia. They put on shape-shifting, colorful displays in their attempts to attract a mate. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-australia-home-mass-cuttlefish-world.html Ecology Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:20:02 EDT news705572642 Extant and ancient cephalopods—including octopuses, squids, extinct ammonites, cuttlefish and nautiluses—have all had to solve the problem of buoyancy, whether they have hard external shells or not. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-early-cambrian-fossil-uncovers-key.html Evolution Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:40:05 EDT news704541901 The octopus is a biological oddity. It can use tools, open jars, and its complex nervous system supports as many neurons as a small primate. Now Harvard biologists have discovered a mysterious distinction in octopuses' core biology: Some octopuses have an unusual adaptation in the protein-making machinery of their cells that helps ensure accuracy, perhaps an evolutionary byproduct of their acute sensory system. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-biology-cells-octopus-sleeve.html Plants & Animals Wed, 29 Jul 2026 11:00:10 EDT news704447041 An ancient marine 'crime scene' discovered near Richmond captures the world first evidence of a flying reptile being eaten by a sea monster… before that predator became dinner itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-bag-bones-rare-tier-prehistoric.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:06 EDT news704476081 An international study led by researchers from the University of Tartu shows that approximately 470 million years ago, a significant ecological change took place in the world's oceans: For the first time, the interiors of empty mollusk shells began to be used as habitats. This marked the emergence of a new ecological niche and was a crucial step in the development of a marine ecosystem similar to today's. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-marine-animals-colonized-seashells-million.html Ecology Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:00:03 EDT news703949101 Marine biologists have observed the Arctic bobtail squid in its natural habitat in the North Atlantic Ocean for the first time, including the rare discovery of a mature female with eggs. Dr Paige Maroni, from The University of Western Australia's School of Biological Sciences, is lead author of the study published in Polar Biology, which recorded the Arctic bobtail squid, Rossia moelleri, in Northeast Greenland National Park. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-rare-sighting-reveals-arctic-bobtail.html Plants & Animals Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:20:03 EDT news703771202 An ongoing research project exploring the effects of rising levels of oceanic CO2 on squid neurology reveals that exposure to future levels of ocean acidification could shrink their brain volume by around 50%. This severe brain shrinkage appears to be most pronounced in the areas that interpret visual information, correlating with significant reductions in normal feeding behaviors and suggesting serious consequences for the future of squid and other cephalopods. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ocean-acidification-brains-world-intelligent.html Plants & Animals Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:00:05 EDT news702630449 Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish may have evolved large brains because of the challenges posed by their environments rather than the demands of social life, according to a new study published in iScience today. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ecological-factors-social-behavior-brain.html Evolution Thu, 02 Jul 2026 18:40:03 EDT news702223381 Sertraline is one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the world. Global sertraline sales are expected to keep growing, projected to expand from an estimated US$1.94 billion in 2025 to approximately US$3.13 billion by 2032. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-antidepressant-brains-sharks-coast.html Ecology Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news701674201 Biological invasions occur when organisms such as animals and plants are introduced by people to regions of the world where they do not naturally occur. In these new locations, these organisms are referred to as "alien species." https://phys.org/news/2026-05-biological-invasions-severe-animal.html Plants & Animals Tue, 05 May 2026 17:40:01 EDT news697206842 Some of the most beautiful creatures to grace the ancient seas, the ammonites, disappeared in the end-Cretaceous mass extinction that finished off the dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago. "It's a tragic story, because this incredibly diverse group made it through multiple mass extinctions, including the most dramatic mass extinction event in history," the Permian-Triassic extinction, which killed off 96% of marine species about 252 million years ago, says Michael Schmutzer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford in England. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-eggs-ammonites-nautiloids-survived.html Evolution Tue, 05 May 2026 15:40:05 EDT news697200661 Today's octopuses are intelligent, remarkably flexible animals that lurk in reefs, hide in crevices, or drift through the deep sea. But new research suggests that their earliest relatives may have played a far more predatory role in ocean ecosystems. A study led by researchers at Hokkaido University has found that the earliest known octopuses were giant predators that hunted at the very top of the food web, alongside large marine vertebrates. The study is published in Science. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-giant-octopuses-oceans-million-years.html Evolution Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:30:02 EDT news696182161 Nature is a riot of color. In the animal kingdom, many species, from insects to cephalopods, use their permanent color or change it for communication, camouflage, and thermoregulation. While this type of reversible shift has been extensively studied, less is known about how the environment may passively affect coloration. In a paper published in the journal Biology Letters, scientists report that sweat bees change color as ambient humidity fluctuates. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-humidity-bees.html Plants & Animals Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:10:01 EDT news696081165 Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through the mesophotic zone of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand how these mysterious "living fossils" thrive in areas with limited nutrients. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-lliving-fossils-nautilus-allonautilus-depths.html Evolution Sun, 05 Apr 2026 19:30:01 EDT news694258565 An international team of researchers, led by paleontologists of the University of Liège, has investigated the biting capabilities of extinct predatory marine reptiles, revealing how these formidable predators could coexist within the same ecosystem. This work sheds new light on the hunting strategies of long-extinct predators that dominated the seas during the Age of Dinosaurs. The research is published in the journal Palaeontology. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ancient-marine-predators.html Paleontology & Fossils Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:40:04 EDT news694435621 A new study by Harvard biologists reveals how octopuses feel their way to potential mates with a "taste by touch" sensory system and can even couple at arm's length without actually seeing each other. In a study featured on the cover of Science, the researchers deciphered how one male appendage serves as a multipurpose organ for seeking, sensing, and seeding—and even continues to respond to female sex hormones after being severed from the body. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-octopus-sensory-potential.html Plants & Animals Thu, 02 Apr 2026 14:00:08 EDT news694251961 From color-changing skin to jet-propelled motion, squid and cuttlefish have long fascinated scientists. To understand the origins of their unique characteristics, many attempts have been made to define their evolutionary history. However, the limited fossil record and incomplete genomic information have made it impossible to confidently order the evolution of these enigmatic creatures, until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-million-years-evolutionary-fuse-lit.html Evolution Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:00:10 EDT news693828311 Many organisms leverage showy colors for attracting mates. Because color is a property of light (determined by its wavelength), it is easy for humans to see how these colors are used in animal courting rituals. Less obvious to humans is the polarization of light—a property of light related to the direction the wave is oriented in. Humans can't perceive polarization, which may be why we weren't aware of the interesting way cuttlefish use it to attract mates. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cuttlefish-polarized-display-invisible-humans.html Plants & Animals Tue, 27 Jan 2026 13:00:02 EST news688741069 Cephalopods—the class of animals that comprises octopuses and squids—are ubiquitous throughout the ocean, including in the deep sea. However, researchers still don't know very much about the distribution, diversity and behaviors of cephalopods in areas like the abyssal plains of the ocean floor. This is mostly due to the inherent difficulty of studying the area, along with what is thought to be a low abundance of cephalopods in the abyssal plains and their avoidance behaviors. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-deep-sea-squid-caught-masquerading.html Plants & Animals Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:37:49 EST news685020812 A new study, led by the University of Vienna and the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, shows how the eyes of adult marine bristleworms continue to grow throughout life—driven by a ring of neural stem cells reminiscent of vertebrate eyes. What's more, these stem cells respond to environmental light. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-functional-principles-eye-evolution-sensitive.html Evolution Mon, 01 Dec 2025 14:32:19 EST news683821921 This week, researchers reported that weight and health markers may rebound when patients stop using some of the new hormonal gastric inhibitory polypeptide drugs. A prototype device can restore lost olfactory sense. And a new universal law predicts how brittle objects shatter. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-saturday-citations-cute-squid-scary.html Other Sat, 29 Nov 2025 09:00:01 EST news683552236