Friday, February 29, 2008

Cuttlefish

So, there was nothing on regular tv last night so I had to switch it to public tv. And again found a NOVA show, this time about cuttlefish. They are the coolest creatures. I've seen one scuba diving and it's just fascinating to watch. What I didn't know is that if you let them get used to you, which doesn't take long, you can follow them around. They can change to any color or pattern imaginable. And apparently they are smart. The show talked about some experiments they have done to test their intelligence, and while I had to go to bed early to try and sleep, I saw they made it to the second stage of problem solving - meaning linking two issues. So for instance to get out of a maze they had to learn two things, and they did. They and octopi have the largest brains of invertebrates.

Oh, and even more interesting is the mating game. Females are very picky. While some/many male cuttlefish are huge (3 feet long) and will fight over a female, there are smaller males that make themselves look like females so they can get through the fighting bullies and be successful in mating. Way cool.

So, there's your science for the day.

5 comments:

heather said...

nor, i've known men in my life who use the same method. they act sorta feminine and the alpha males don't feel threatened by them. in the meantime mr. effeminate is screwing all the girls in town getting laid three times as much as the alpha males. lol
amazing isn't it how the different species are similar.

Tera said...

If this is the same one, my Great Aunt used to watch NOVA when I was younger...then NOVA=sleep.

This is further evidence that bigger is not always better! :)

Nate said...

And all this time I've avoided dressing like a girl in public because I thought just the opposite would happen.

Churlita said...

Those darn metro sexual males, always getting the chicks.

NoRegrets said...

Heather - 'tis amazing...
Tera - yeah, I know, it's [shudder] nature.
G - don't worry. you can let it all hang out now.
Churlita - well, at least some of them... sneaky bastards.