See also stories tagged with Cephalopod

Search results for Cephalopod

Evolution Jan 12, 2012

Breakthrough model reveals evolution of ancient nervous systems through seashell colors

Determining the evolution of pigmentation patterns on mollusk seashells—which could aid in the understanding of ancient nervous systems—has proved to be a challenging feat for researchers. Now, however, through ...

Plants & Animals Nov 10, 2011

Save your day: Mid-ocean creatures control light to avoid becoming snacks

If you're a snack-sized squid or octopus living in the ocean zone where the last bit of daylight gives way, having some control over your reflection could be a matter of life and death.

Evolution Nov 2, 2011

Mapping mollusks: Researchers use genetic tools to complete family tree

What do a typical garden snail and an octopus have in common, besides the occasional appearance on the plates of adventurous diners? More than you may realize. Both are mollusks, a group of animals that includes everything ...

Evolution Oct 26, 2011

Researchers complete mollusk evolutionary tree

Mollusks have been around for so long (at least 500 million years), are so prevalent on land and in water (from backyard gardens to the deep ocean), and are so valuable to people (clam chowder, oysters on the half shell) ...

Earth Sciences Oct 10, 2011

Giant kraken lair discovered

Long before whales, the oceans of Earth were roamed by a very different kind of air-breathing leviathan. Snaggle-toothed ichthyosaurs larger than school buses swam at the top of the Triassic Period ocean food chain, or so ...

Plants & Animals Sep 21, 2011

Research into molluscan phylogeny reveals deep animal relationship of snails and mussels

Snails, mussels, squids – as different as they may look, they do have something in common: they all belong to the phylum Mollusca, also called molluscs. An international team of researchers headed by Kevin Kocot and ...

Plants & Animals Sep 21, 2011

Study reveals sex life of deep-sea squid

The sex life of Octopoteuthis deletron -- O. deletron, if you prefer -- is a cruelly hit-or-miss affair, according to candid footage of the deep-sea squid in its element, unveiled Wednesday.

Plants & Animals Sep 15, 2011

Sea smarts: Scientists studying mollusks discover there is more than one way to make a brain

(PhysOrg.com) -- Seemingly simple animals such as the snail and squid have ransacked the genetic toolkit over the last half billion years to find different ways to build complex brains, nervous systems and shells, according ...

Plants & Animals May 19, 2011

Studying 'squid skin' to create new camouflage patterns

As an octopus, a squid, or a cuttlefish moves around a reef in the ocean, it instantly camouflages itself against the background. Known as cephalopods, these animals have the extraordinary ability to conceal themselves from ...

Plants & Animals May 16, 2011

How can a colorblind animal change its colors to blend into the background?

How could a colorblind animal know how to change its skin color to blend into its surroundings? And what will the animal's predator "see," looking at its prey before and after it hides?

page 35 from 39