Human and Octopus Evolution Research Conundrum
Fun fact: Octopi is an incorrect plural for octopus because octopus is an English word, not Latin. So it does not receive a Latin plural. Octopuses is correct even though it may mess with the tongue. Anyway, they are classified as mollusks belonging to the arthropod phylum. Octopuses come in various sizes and show remarkable characteristics, especially intelligence.
Their brain neurons have an element that is important for thinking, and are also found in human brains. Humans and octopuses are so clearly different, they could not have evolved from a common ancestor.
Octopus, Pexels / Pia B |
Another thought-limiting principle is convergent evolution. "The complex eye, certain neurons, and other features evolved independently in both humans and octopuses." Not hardly! This is a police officer's exit (cop out) because it dances around reasoning by assuming evolution without giving evidence for it.
Worse for evolutionists is how homology and convergence contradict each other. This makes Papa Darwin sad. In addition, detailed examination shows that the evidence supports the work of the Master Engineer.
Octopuses are among the most intelligent animals. Like humans, they have advanced cognitive and problem-solving skills that are of great interest to neurobiologists. No wonder research is increasingly focused on studying the brain and learning from these smart and inquisitive animals. Earlier, neurobiologists uncovered that the transposable element known as LINE1 is active in brain cells. There, its activity is thought to be crucial to learning and cognition, because they accumulate in the presence of genes related to these processes. Now, scientists find members of the LINE (long interspersed nuclear element) family in the neurons of octopuses and also link them to learning and cognition. An incredible case of convergent evolution.
There are some technical aspects in this article. If those don't appeal to you, just read through them and keep going. You'll thank me later. To do so, head on over to "Humans and octopuses use the same mechanism to induce variation in the brain: LINE retrotransposition."