Octopuses: 'Alien Creatures?'

A new scientific study has shown that octopuses are stranger than previously thought. Scientific tests on the DNA of these mollusks have proven that their lineage does not resemble any other creatures on Earth. Websites such as Independent and Huffington Post report that the genomes of these soft-bodied animals have a very complex structure and composition. More than 33,000 protein-coding genes have been identified in the DNA of this creature, which is significantly more than that found in the human genome. The results of this new research add to the wonders of this soft-bodied and eight-legged creature. According to Huffington Post, Dr. Clifton Ragsdale, a professor of neuroscience and anatomy biology at the University of Chicago and one of the researchers involved in this study, stated: 'Understanding the octopus genome will greatly aid broader research on the characteristics of mollusks and has now become an important chapter in our knowledge of the evolution of living beings. In this regard, we can say that our research is the first chapter of studies on the genome of an extraterrestrial organism.' Based on one scientific study, the octopus species formed more than 270 million years ago, a time when, according to evolutionary theories, our human ancestors were still fish. Creatures that are considered dissimilar to other organisms usually have strange features; such as tentacles or arms that are very effective and efficient, a high degree of mobility, camera-like eyes that are very sensitive to light decomposition, the ability to adapt their skin color and patterns to their surroundings, and a remarkable ability to reproduce and regenerate their body parts.