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Caleb Kraft decorated his 1977 VW Microbus with a mural of an “octophant,” an elephant head with a trunk and tentacles! That’s not all -he installed handmade stained glass in the van as well. So if you see a Microbus with stained glass and an elephant inside, you know who it is. Or continue reading for a video of the project.
This Octopus Table by artist Isaac Krauss is made out of bronze and pure awesomeness. Isaac and his collaborator Alex Friend put 1,500 hours and about $5,000 to build the 8-armed table.
Laughing Squid has more pics: Link | Alex Friend's web page about the build process
The octopus crawled out of the sea and deposited a crab in front of the humans. YouTube user tuantube thinks that this was a friendly gesture. It wasn’t. Like a cat leaving a dead mouse before you, it’s a simple message that expresses “You’re next.”
-via Geekologie
Of all invertebrates, the octopus is considered the most intelligent, and sadly, rather underrated. They’ve been caught on video wrestling sharks to death like sea-dwelling honey badgers, using tools and opening twist-cap bottles. And according to at least one paleontologist, their ancestors may have been bigger, smarter, scarier and perhaps even a bit artistic.
The Triassic World
During the Triassic Period, a creature we call Ichthyosaur swam the seas, chowing down on whatever it wanted–it was the size of a school bus and had a mouthful of jagged teeth, and until Monday, paleontologists assumed it sat at the top of its watery food chain. But a stash of nine interestingly arranged, fossilized icthyosaur bodies discovered in Nevada have long confounded researchers, who haven’t been able to determine how they died. Formerly, it was believed the seas were shallow in that location and the giant proto-whales fell victim to an algae bloom. But evidence from the surrounding rocks indicate the seas were still deep at the time of their demise, leaving science with something of a mystery.
That’s where Mount Holyoke College paleontologist Mark McMenamin comes in. “Charles Camp puzzled over these fossils in the 1950s,” said McMenamin. “In his papers he keeps referring to how peculiar this site is. We agree, it is peculiar.” See, the bones of these ichthyosaurs are etched differently from one another, indicating that they didn’t die at the same time. But since they’re all buried together, something interesting had to have happened. And McMenamin thinks that “something” is the work of kraken.
Deliberate Burial
McMenamin believes that the midden-building and predation behaviors observed in modern octopuses–specifically that of the famous Shark vs. Octopus video, wherein an unassuming dog shark gets totally pwned by a seemingly mild-mannered cephalopod–support the theory that gargantuan prehistoric kraken were terrorizing the ichthyosaur population, “either drowning them or breaking their necks.” Suspiciously twisted necks and many broken ribs from the ichthyosaur dig seem to support the idea, as fantastical as it is. But weirdest of all is how the bones came to be buried together, and why their arrangement seems bizarre: “I think that these things were captured by the kraken and taken to the midden and the cephalopod would take them apart,” and rearrange them into what McMenamin believes is “the earliest known self portrait.”
In the fossil bed, some of the shonisaur vertebral disks are arranged in curious linear patterns with almost geometric regularity, McMenamin explained.The proposed Triassic kraken, which could have been the most intelligent invertebrate ever, arranged the vertebral discs in double line patterns, with individual pieces nesting in a fitted fashion as if they were part of a puzzle.
To illustrate, the bones are arranged like this:
That’s not even a little bit creepy.
Or is it Pareidolia?
Soft-bodied animals, by virtue of definition, have nothing to leave in the fossil layer, so McMenamin’s tentacled beast will likely never turn up even if it did exist. And this presents something of a problem for the theory, since many researchers are “highly skeptical” of his “evidence.” Roger Hanlon, a marine biologist at the Marine Biological laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, says,”There’s nothing in the scientific literature that suggests that modern-day cephalopods do anything like this.” And according to Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the Nevada site “essentially represents a mass burial ground for ichthyosaurs in a shallow sea.” Speaking to Christian Science Monitor, Dr. Thomas Holtz Jr. of the University of Maryland declares that McMenamin’s approach to understanding the ichthyosaur peculiarities “is too many steps away from the evidence to call it science.”
But that doesn’t mean that McMenamin is universally scorned: science writers and kraken enthusiasts are rooting for McMenamin and his Triassic tentacled leviathan. Rebecca Boyle of PopSci is sympathetic, hypothesizing that “the hypothetical kraken was just lonely, and, unable to clone itself [as some modern jellyfish can], it made an artistic rendering of an imaginary friend? It seems possible, although maybe less possible [than] the imagined kraken.” But if moral support is what McMenamin needs, Cyriaque Lamar at io9 has got it in spades: ”[T]he possibility of finding that which is essentially a gargantuan mollusk’s macaroni illustration? That’s the kind of glorious crazy you hope is reality.”
What do you think, guys? Is McMenamin’s idea a little too crack-pot to hold water, or is there maybe something to this whole self-expressive kraken thing?
Sources:
Octopus Mug – $9.95
Are you looking for the perfect coffee mug to go with your new and extremely suave Tentacle Mustache? You need the Octopus Mug from the NeatoShop. This fantastic porcelain mug features a 3D octopus inside.
Shark Attack Mug also available.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fabulous Glassware & Drinkware.
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If you like octopuses and squids, you’ll love this collection of marine lithographs from the collection “I Cefalopodi!” at the the Biodiversity Heritage Library on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution. See nine pieces of the collection at BibliOdyssey. Link
A Tweet from Jason Sweeney cried out to be made into a Twaggie.
Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for life. Give an octopus nunchucks, no one’s ever eating fish again.
Illustration by guest artist Donovan Santiago. Like all Twaggies, this can be made into a t-shirt. Link
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The Spoctocus can neck pinch eight people simultaneously and squeeze itself through the narrowest of Jeffries tubes with ease. This tattoo has been attributed to artist Daniel Limon of Tuscon.
UPDATE 3/31/11: In the comments, truth points out that deviantART user stablercake may be the original designer of the Spoctocus. Thanks, truth!
So you’re looking for just the right chair to accent your demon skin rug. Perhaps something tasteful and subtle that conveys your cosmopolitan demeanor. Well, Spanish artist Maximo Riera has just the chair for you. It’s the first of a series of fifteen works designed to resemble walruses, beetles, rhinoceroses, and other animals.
The monster from the Sy-Fy movie has been enshrined in plush! This is a one-of-a-kind Sharktopus was hand-made by Suzannah Ashley. See more pictures at her website. Link -via Laughing Squid
Paul, the octopus who predicted the outcome of World Cup soccer matches (featured previously at Neatorama), has died at his home at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in Germany. He was two years old.
After Germany’s semi-final defeat, Paul tipped Spain to beat the Netherlands in the final, which prompted one news agency to report he had spurred a jump in demand for Spanish government bonds. Paul’s prediction duly came to pass: Spain won.
Staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre in western Germany said in a statement they were “devastated” to learn of Paul’s death when they returned to work on Tuesday.
“He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life,” said the centre’s manager Stefan Porwoll.
There was no indication that Paul had predicted his passing. Link -via Metafilter
Combine a graceful sea creature in its natural environment with some ethereal music and you’ve got this video. From the YouTube link:
Making a rare appearance just in time for Halloween, this ghostly-looking orange cirrate octopus was recently observed by MBARI’s ROV Doc Ricketts swimming over the Taney Seamounts. These finned octopuses belong to an order of animals called Cirrata named for the presence of hair-like structures called ‘cirri’ which may aid these animals in the capture of food.
-via Boing Boing
Is your home octopus-proof? Maybe you should check. And trying to freeze them out won’t help because some octopuses discovered in Antarctica are the first known to have venom that works in freezing temperatures:
Antarctic octopuses eat a wide variety of animals, from clams to fish. They catch their prey with their tentacles and use their venom to kill them, much like snakes.
The venoms are being studied as potential sources of pain-killers, Fry said, because they work on the nervous system. So far, analysis of the venom has revealed two toxins that are new to science.
The scientists still don’t know what biochemical tricks the octopuses use to keep their venom working at freezing temperatures
Link via Geekologie | Photo: Samuel Inglesias
This adorable purple octopus, possibly a younger relative of our own Octowriter in the sidebar, could be a new species. An expedition off the coast of Newfoundland identified 11 new species of marine creatures. The project, involving Spanish and Canadian scientists, uses a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to explore the ocean as far down as 9,800 feet, or 3,000 meters. See pictures of the other new species at National Geographic. Link
(Image credit: Bedford Institute of Oceanography)
Every time we blog about an octopus, or rather, more than one octopus, we can count on a debate in the comments about the proper plural form for the animal. Here’s the real scoop from Kory Stamper, who is an Associate Editor at Merriam-Webster, the dictionary company. -via Holy Kaw!
So, if you’ve been watching the World Cup, you know that Spain has beaten the Netherlands. But the real winner may just be Paul the Oracle Octopus who correctly predicted the outcome:
Dubbed the "oracle octopus", Paul beat his rival Mani, Singapore’s psychic parakeet, who incorrectly predicted a win for Holland.
Punters gambling on the mystic mollusc’s predictions have won up to half a million pounds during the month-long tournament, according to bookmakers William Hill. [...]
The octopus, who now resides in Germany’s Oberhausen Sea Life aquarium, correctly predicted the outcome of all six matches involving his adopted homeland by choosing to eat a mussel from boxes emblazoned with the flags of the German team and its rivals.
After his prediction that Germany would be defeated by Spain came to pass, some angry fans called for him to be thrown in a shark tank. But he won support from Spanish fans who pledged to protect him, despite their country’s fondness for calamari.
Paul the octopus lives in an aquarium in Germany. His keepers use him to predict world cup winners by placing food in two containers marked with the flags of the competitors. Whichever he chooses first is more likely to win:
His keepers say he correctly predicted nearly 70% of Germany’s results during the 2008 European Championship.[...]
“Paul’s prediction was phenomenal,” said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.
“He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside.”
The octopus, which was born in the UK and was moved to the German aquarium, has become a national celebrity after correctly predicting Germany would beat Australia in their opening match, then lose to Serbia, and then beat Ghana.
Link via Geekosystem
The octopus makes a great metaphor -it has many arms that can do multiple things at once, it is strange and unfamiliar, and it has a long reputation for grabbing things. It’s no wonder the cephalopod gets used in political cartoons and propaganda. The blog Vulgar Army documents these historical uses of the octopus, usually to make some entity look too powerful and/or evil, with pictures and in-depth information. Shown is “The Devil Fish of California Politics” from 1889. Link -via Nag on the Lake
The female of the argonaut species of octopus produces a thin shell called a paper nautilus. You may remember these animals from the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Scientists have pondered the purpose of these shells for thousands of years. The octopus lays her eggs inside the shell, but that couldn’t be the only reason they developed this ability that is so different from other octopuses. Octopus experts Julian Finn and Mark Norman had a chance to observe argonauts in the wild and found they deliberately filled their paper nautiluses with an exact amount of air in order to keep themselves floating at a particular ocean depth.
This neutral buoyancy is a big boon for animals that live in the open ocean, because they don’t have to expend energy on keeping their place in the water column. Other cephalopods use a combination of fins, jets of water and, in the case of the actual nautilus, chambered shells. The argonauts are the only species known to use bubbles, but it’s clearly an efficient tactic. Finn and Norman observed that once they had trapped their air pockets and reached the right depth, they could swim fast enough to outpace a human diver.
See how the argonaut octopus does it in a video at Discover magazine. Link
(Image credit: Julian Finn)
Victor Huang was recording video underwater at Wahine Memorial near Wellington, New Zealand when something really strange happened.
while trying to get video of a wild octopus, it suddenly dashed towards me and rips my shiny new camera from out of my hands, then swims off, all while the camera is recording! he swam away very quickly like a naughty shoplifter. after a 5 minute chase, I placed my speargun underneath him and he quickly and curiously grabbed hold of the gun as well, giving me enough time to reach in and grab the camera from out of his mouth. I didn’t feel threatened at all during the whole ordeal. he seemed to be fixated on the shiny metallic blue digital camera. the only confusing behavior was how he dashed off with it like a thief haha. cheeky octopus.
-via Metafilter
Cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal is back with another explanation of how the world works. In today’s episode, he argues that the personality, lifestyle, and biological features of an octopus make it far awesomer than your mom. You’ll just have to read it if you want to understand why babies equal nachos.
Biologist Mark Norman found octopuses (octopi?) off the coast of Indonesia that use split open coconut shells as hiding places. This is the first known tool use by an invertebrate animal:
An octopus would dig up the two halves of a coconut shell, then use them as protective shielding when stopping in exposed areas or when resting in sediment.
This, on its own, astonished the team. Then they noticed that the octopuses, after using the coconut shells, would arrange them neatly below the centers of their bodies and “walk” around with the shells—awkwardly.
It’s uncertain whether these were African or European coconuts. Video at the link.
Link | Photo: Roger Steene
Photo: New England Aquarium
How do you keep your octopi from getting bored? The New England Aquarium in Boston decided to give ‘em a little puzzle to solve:
Truman, a 7-foot-long, 30-pound octopus at the New England Aquarium squeezed his body into a 14-inch square acrylic box today in pursuit of food, aquarium officials said. [...]
The idea was for Truman to release the latch on the larger box then release the latch of the smaller one to get his food. And staff expected Truman not to get to work until after the aquarium closed and it was dark, because octopi typically prey on other animals at night.
But Truman was impatient. He got to work right away. And rather than undoing the latch on the larger box, he squeezed his legs and large head through a two-inch hole in the larger box.
“The speculation is that the crabs were active and he got excited … and decided, Whoa!, there’s lunch,” said aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by JKirchartz.
Octopus have been famous for their curiosity and intelligence. One California aquarium recently experienced flooding. The culprit? A female two-spotted octopus!
Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact.
They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium’s resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.
The Indonesian mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, takes camouflage and mimicry into a new level:
This octopus is able to copy the physical likeness and movement of more than fifteen different species, including sea snakes, lionfish, flatfish, brittle stars, giant crabs, sea shells, stingrays, jellyfish, sea anemones, and mantis shrimp. This animal is so intelligent that it is able to discern which dangerous sea creature to impersonate that will present the greatest threat to its current possible predator.
Ursi’s Blog has the video clip of the mimic octopus in action: Link [embedded YouTube clip]
Dress by VECONA, Photo by Frank Wiersema
Remember the squid hat that Jill and Miss C posted? Well, I found a dress to match: behold the octodress by VECONA, as displayed in their Cabaret Gothique fashion show in Bruges last month. Via jwz.
