It looks like an alien, can copy other animals and can change colour, shape and

size in a second. Alec Peters investigates a mysterious creature that might be too
intelligent for humans to understand.
As intelligent as ...?
Ask a biologist what the most intelligent creatures are on [1] _______, and theyll
probably come up with a fairly similar [2] _______: larger mammals such as horses,
dogs, dolphins, pigs, the [3] _______ apes as well as some birds like crows and [4]
_______. But now some scientists believe that one of the [5] _______ intelligent
beings on Earth is in fact the octopus - which doesnt belong to any of these groups.
Every [6] _______ knows that octopuses ( or octopi ) have eight [7] _______ and can
shoot ink while trying to escape from [8] _______. But there are many other unusual
things about octopuses. [9] _______ example, the legs of some octopuses can grow
to [10] _______ nine metres in length and are extremely strong. If [11] _______
octopus loses a leg, it can grow a new [12] _______. It also has three hearts and
complex eyes, which [13] _______ to belong to a mammal rather than a sea [14]
_______. Octopuses also seem to be experts at escaping - [15] _______ have
extremely soft, flexible bodies and can escape through [16] _______ not much bigger
than their eyes. There are many [17] _______ who have stories about walking into
the laboratory after [18] _______ to find their octopus had escaped from its aquarium
[19] _______ was now hiding in a teapot or climbing a [20] _______! However, even
until quite recently, little was known about [21] _______ intelligence. There are
several reasons for this. Firstly, octopuses [22] _______ live at the bottom of river
mouths and seas - areas which are not attractive to researchers. Secondly, they [23]
_______ not social animals so it can be difficult to [24] _______ their interaction with
others. Perhaps most importantly, octopus intelligence [25] _______ not easy for
humans to understand. When we observe [26] _______ such as rats or dogs we can
often instinctively [27] _______ their behaviour. Octopuses, however, can seem like
aliens. Scientists [28] _______ to have a lot of imagination to be able [29] _______
understand what an octopus is thinking! In the 1950s, [30] _______ US Air Force
sponsored scientists to study the way [31] _______ use their brains. They hoped that
they could use [32] _______ knowledge to help them build better computers.
However, their [33] _______ were so complex that the scientists quickly gave up. [34]
_______ even today the octopus brain is a mystery. Octopuses [35] _______ a very
complex nervous system and recent research suggests [36] _______ they have
some of their intelligence inside each arm, [37] _______ means that each arm can
think for itself. It [38] _______ appears that they have good memories, perhaps
similar to [39] _______ cats. Some octopuses in laboratories seem to play with [40]
_______ as if they were toys - a sure sign [41] _______ intelligence. Others could
pick up complicated skills like opening [42] _______. Perhaps the most striking thing

about octopuses is their [43] _______ to change their colour and body pattern. They
do [44] _______ to camouflage themselves and also to communicate with others.
[45] _______ can completely change their appearance in less than a [46] _______ a striped octopus can suddenly become spotted. It [47] _______ change its skin to
look like rocks, sand or [48] _______. A scientist once observed an octopus that
changed its [49] _______ nearly 1,000 times during seven hours of feeding! It [50]
_______ change its appearance to look like a dangerous predator - and can even
copy its style of swimming. Some [51] _______ have even suggested that these
different patterns and colours [52] _______ in fact a very sophisticated language and that [53] _______ design is a different verb, adjective or noun. But [54] _______
has been able to work out what they might [55] _______ saying. It seems like the
problem isnt the limitation [56] _______ the animals.. but the limitations of humans!
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