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
Thank you dear Eurovision audience. Not only a black ocean but also booing but what did the tv station do? Fake cheering....but at least we know how it really went down. I am so not watching btw
My evening was spent making tiktaalik hate, I have to share it somewhere
do eastern hognoses get attacked by toads a lot? them being immune to their poison seems really specific
Quite the opposite! Many toads secrete toxins to avoid being eaten (most animals don't like eating poisonous food).
However, because they really like eating toads, hognose snakes have evolved specifically to be immune to those toxins. There are many examples of this kind of co-evolution in the animal kingdom (another common one are garter snakes and salamanders).
Photinus fireflies are probably one of North America’s most iconic and beloved beetles, and rightfully so. P. pyralis is big and bright, with a yellow-green color to its bioluminescence
I also often see these smaller Photinus with a warm orange glow. I think they could be P. scintillans, which aligns with their size, flash pattern, the yellow sclerites on males, and where I’m located. females of that species are short-winged and flightless, so I’ll try to find one to figure out the ID for sure.
reminder that fireflies eat slugs and snails as larvae! if you like seeing them in your garden, stop trying to exterminate land gastropods and leave some vegetation where the adults can sleep during the day. slugs and “weeds” = more magic glowing bugs
アオミノウミウシ-神奈川、東京、埼玉、千葉から伊豆の海への玄関口 小田原ダイビングスクール