Octopuses defend their territory by throwing objects at ‘invaders’

According to the authors of the study, the pitch can be distinguished from other phenomena by the ballistic movement of a manipulable object or material; here ‘ballistic’ defines ‘impulse-driven motion’.

Shooting towards a specific target was until recently viewed as a truly humane act and probably is. an important role in hominin evolution. chimpanzees Y cappuccino they are real ‘experts’ at throwing objects.

This dolphinsAmong the most intelligent animals, it behaves like slapping and throwing it over the water while catching its prey. objects are thrown or passed between individuals during play.

There are other similar behaviors in the animal kingdom, but they all seem to be responsive. involuntary reactions and not conscious and deliberate actions.

Behaviors associated with throwing objects are spraying water through the air of prey. archer fishthe swaying of silk threads towards the prey by some bola spiders or action ant lion larvae sandblasts when prey tries to escape from their conical traps.

Octopuses throw objects in more than one context, and scientists believe this in most cases, deliberately and consciously.: to attack and defend. They may respond to social or sexual interactions and be social, hostile, or just for routine purposes.

Defending your ‘personal space’

The materials most commonly used by octopuses in their throws are: shells, slime, moss and sometimes dead corals. They release these materials from their arms, creating jets of water that hurl them several meters away.

The research, published in the journal ‘Plos One’, was carried out in Australia and the black octopus (octopus tetricus). In most cases, the authors Octopuses guard their territory: when other animals or objects get too close to their nests, they throw objects that defend their ‘boundary’..

So they were observed throwing objects at underwater cameras, fish and even other octopuses. Both soft and powerful shots were recorded, some giving the impression of simple warnings, others hitting the target hard.

The authors, who collected 102 records of the relentless octopus between 2015 and 2016, this behavior in most cases is about defending their “personal space”.. They also observed scuffles and fights among octopuses.

Half of the objects thrown seemed to be attempts to defend the area as it was ‘occupied’ by another species. The ‘invader’ was injured in 17% of cases. Investigators believe some of these attacks were intentional.. The most used ‘artillery’ in fights between octopuses was slime.

The authors also confirmed that octopuses use their abilities to throw objects—mainly shells and scraps of food—while performing. cleaning their nests. In most cases, they do this right after a meal.

Females throw objects at ‘harassers’

Octopuses take the selected ‘bullet’ with their tentacles to hurl objects, but do not use them to hurl them the way a human does with their arms, but instead propel them towards the target with the help of a powerful jet of water from a tubular structure. The way they use it to pump water out of their bodies is called a “siphon”.

Octopuses can change the color of their skin at will, color is important when throwing objects. a) Yes, Scientists have discovered that dark colors are generally associated with more aggression, stronger shots, and more likely to hit the target..

They also noted Octopuses that are in the middle of a “line of fire” often respond by crouching, raising their arms towards the wheel, or redirecting their movements..

They also found that females threw many more objects than males. Because some of these actions take place during sexual interactions.

Records confirmed The female octopus sometimes throws shells and mud at sexually abusive males in order to mate. In one case, a female fired “bullets” ten times at a male trying to mate over a period of about four hours. Five of those pitches hit the man who didn’t retaliate.

Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith said: “Throwing, pushing or throwing objects that have been picked up and held is rare in the animal kingdom. It is particularly unusual and extremely difficult to do an object, even a short distance underwater.” University of Sydney (Australia) and lead author of the study.

“For this reason, octopuses can be added to the short list of animals that throw or push objects, and an even shorter list of those that direct their throws at other animals.including individuals from the same population that hitherto consisted only of social mammals.”

Reference work: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276482

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Contact address of the environment department: crizclimatica@prensaiberica.es