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    • Leading scientists claim that octopuses could evolve into the next civilization
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    Leading scientists claim that octopuses could evolve into the next civilization

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    Professor Tim Coulson, a leading zoologist and biologist at the University of Oxford, has suggested that octopuses could evolve into the next civilization builders if humanity were to disappear. He believes that octopuses’ intelligence, adaptability and unique abilities make them strong candidates to fill the ecological niche left by humans.

    “Octopuses are among the most intelligent, adaptable and resourceful creatures on Earth,” Professor Coulson said in an interview with London-based business publication The European. “Their dexterity, curiosity, ability to communicate with each other, and supreme intelligence could allow them to create complex tools to build an underwater, Atlantis-like civilization.”

    Octopuses possess advanced cognitive functions, including problem-solving skills, tool use, and the ability to learn and innovate. They have a complex nervous system and a decentralized neural structure, with groups of neurons controlling each tentacle. This allows them to manipulate objects with great precision.

    “Their ability to solve complex problems, manipulate objects, and even camouflage themselves with astonishing precision suggests that, given the right environmental conditions, they could evolve to become a post-human civilization-building species,” Coulson said.

    He explained that while primates have long been considered potential successors to humans, they would face the same challenges and are unlikely to replace humans. “Octopuses are a potentially better candidate to fill an ecological niche in a post-human world,” he said.

    While acknowledging that it could take hundreds of thousands or even millions of years for such an evolution to occur, Professor Coulson speculated that octopuses could eventually adapt to new environments and even expand their home ranges. land hunting. “With evolutionary advances, it is possible, if not likely, that they developed ways to breathe outside of water and eventually hunt land animals such as deer, sheep, and other mammals—assuming they survived the cataclysmic event that caused the disappearance of people”.

    “Humans have learned to catch fish and navigate above and below water, so it is possible, if not likely, that octopuses do the same on land,” he added.

    Octopuses are highly intelligent creatures known for their versatility and advanced cognition, which includes the ability to camouflage with amazing precision and communicate through flashes of color. They have been recorded splitting coconut shells to hide under them, navigating complex mazes and unscrewing jars.

    However, octopuses have a relatively short lifespan, ranging from one to five years, depending on the species. They also live solitary lives and do not care for their young, which could pose challenges to the development of complex societies. “Octopuses are unlikely to have adapted to life on land due to their lack of a skeleton, which makes fast, agile movement out of water difficult,” Professor Coulson explained, “but it is possible that the animals evolved to this”.

    He concluded: “While there is no way to know if my hypothesis will prove to be true, it cannot be ruled out. The future of life on Earth is shaped by countless variables, and any number of species could rise to prominence.”

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    Other contenders to become the dominant species after humans include monkeys, elephants, dolphins, parrots and crows. Some scientists think ants and cats might be on the run, too. However, birds and insects lack several abilities that humans and octopuses have, such as intelligence.

    The idea that octopuses rise to dominance has sparked heated debate among scientists. Despite the challenges, Coulson believes the octopuses’ intelligence and adaptability could allow them to exploit new niches and adapt to a changing planet, especially in the absence of human influence.

    “Their advanced cognition, tool use and ability to adapt to changing environments provides a model for what may emerge as the planet’s next intelligent species after humans,” he said.

    In conclusion, although future evolution cannot be predicted with certainty, octopuses may have a central role in a post-human world. “Would octopuses build vast underwater cities and come to land wearing breathing apparatus to shoot a deer? We have no way of knowing. But we certainly can’t rule it out,” noted Professor Coulson.

    This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq



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