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THIS OCTOPUS IS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, SCIENTISTS BELIEVE.

Sleep is a fundamental biological function present in all vertebrates and most invertebrates. Octopuses are really complex animals, displaying active and inactive sleep states similar to those of vertebrates. In particular, octopuses have active sleep states during which they display sequences of camouflage patterns, while remaining relatively quiet and unresponsive to external stimuli. Some scientists have speculated that these states could be analogous to dreaming in mammals.

Now, researchers have recorder what is believing an octopuses having nightmare. During a month, researchers recorded a male Brazilian reef octopus (Octopus insularis), and they detected four brief episodes were identified during which the octopus abruptly emerged from sleep, detached itself from its sleep position, and engaged in antipredator behaviors, despite no predator was present. The longest of these episodes resembled the species-typical response to a predatory attack, suggesting that the animal may have been responding to a negative episodic memory while sleeping.

However, these are just conjectures, as it is hard to be sure, according to scientists, who claim that more studies are needed to ensure that they really are nightmares.

Gif from video: Eric Ramos et al

Reference:  Ramos et al., 2023. Abnormal behavioral episodes associated with sleep and quiescence in Octopus insularis: Possible nightmares in a cephalopod?. bioRxiv.

video can be seen here

Off topic, but have some fishes for now

phys.org

Researchers uncover 500 million-year-old mollusk ancestor

A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Oxford have made an astonishing discovery of a new species of mollusk that

A team of researchers including scientists from the University of Oxford have made an astonishing discovery of a new species of mollusk that lived 500 million years ago. The new fossil, called Shishania aculeata, reveals that the most primitive mollusks were flat, shell-less slugs covered in a protective spiny armor. The findings have been published in the journal Science. The new species was found in exceptionally well-preserved fossils from eastern Yunnan Province in southern China dating from a geological period called the early Cambrian, approximately 514 million years ago. The specimens of Shishania are all only a few centimeters long and are covered in small spikey cones (sclerites) made of chitin, a material also found in the shells of modern crabs, insects, and some mushrooms.

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Anomalocaris? Isn't that the vice president

ScienceAlert

Lost Age of Monotremes Revealed by Fossils From 100 Million Years Ago

As bones encased in rock rotted away, water-borne silica seeped into the crevices, solidifying into opal and preserving precious details for

As bones encased in rock rotted away, water-borne silica seeped into the crevices, solidifying into opal and preserving precious details for 100 million years. The resulting fossils now provide evidence that there really may have been an Age of Monotremes, before other mammals came to dominate. "It's like discovering a whole new civilization," says Australian Museum paleontologist Tim Flannery. "Today, Australia is known as a land of marsupials, but discovering these new fossils is the first indication that Australia was previously home to a diversity of monotremes." Only five of these rare mammals still cling to existence: one platypus and four echidna species, shared between Australia and Papua New Guinea. But due to their reptilian-like egg-laying feature, it has long been thought these animals evolved before placental mammals like us and marsupials.

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helloo!! sorry if this is a question u get a lot, do you know any good website to keep up with marine animals news?? and for research??

It's a good question to ask, especially in a world where you have to sift through a lot of misinformation surrounding science (and, to set a good example, I will now be adding references in the notes for my information, particularly if I mention specific studies).

For news, Science.org, SciTechDaily, NewScientist and Nature.com are all websites I have used for keeping up to date with global marine biology news/research although it's always possible to use any news site as long as you ensure they are reliable (e.g. do they include references to research for further reading? does the content of the referenced research match the claims they make in the article? is the site likely to be biased towards a particular viewpoint?)

For research, there are tons of databases storing centuries of marine biology research. Many people like to recommend Google Scholar and I always think it's a good starting point for beginning scientific research but you can't always trust it to be a reliable tool.

ResearchGate, Wiley Online Library, ScienceDirect are all good places for peer-reviewed scientific articles (and I'm sure the people over at @jstor will assure you of the strength of their database too) although, keep in mind, you might have to search through many other databases if you want to dodge paywalls to access full articles.

If anyone else has any other suggestions, feel free to mention them in the notes!

I mean, I’m compelled to share for the image alone

but if you’d like to read the full article: X

phys.org

Orchid plants nurture their seedlings via shared underground fungal network, study shows

The Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) is found all over the U.K. These orchids produce tiny seeds that can be carried anywhere by

The Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) is found all over the U.K. These orchids produce tiny seeds that can be carried anywhere by the wind, yet they often appear in clumps with small seedlings growing near mature plants. This phenomenon has puzzled ecologists since Darwin's time, with the exact reason remaining a mystery. A new study, led by researchers from the University of Sheffield in collaboration with The University of Manchester, provides the first evidence that early stage orchid seedlings germinate and thrive near to adult plants due to a kind of parental nurture using underground fungal networks. Scientists investigated the idea that fungal networks, known as mycorrhizal networks, act as a direct pathway for established orchid plants to share recently produced sugars with developing seedlings.

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Hey where's that one post about the sturgeon and other fish that were waaaayyyyy evolutionarily far apart but still made viable offspring during a control test and all the science hippies were freaking out I've lost this post but it has never left my mind