When it comes to intelligent animals, there are a handful that get a lot of attention.
Chimpanzees and other primates are thought to do a lot of things like human beings. Dogs are considered man's best friend, capable of doing a multitude of jobs. And in the sea, dolphins and whales are thought of as having keen intelligence. When you think of intelligent animals, you probably don’t think of the octopus.
"A creature you might dismiss as just being blob of slime might really have a mind - an active, agile, interesting mind. A mind that enriches the world and enriches your world. And that's what I found when I started interacting with and befriending these octopuses," says science writer Sy Montgomery.
Montgomery is helping fellow scientists understand that these eight-armed marine animals are highly evolved.
"Here's an animal who is a mollusk, who is related to clams and snails and yet, here is a creature who is extremely intelligent," she says. "Their intelligence comes from a different evolutionary route than ours and has a lot to tell us about how varied consciousness can be."
She tells the story of the octopus to young audiences and grown-ups in two new books – The Soul of an Octopus and The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk.
Montgomery will talk more about the octopus in the inauguralCarpenter Lecture at the Milwaukee Public Museum next week.
