If humans suddenly disappeared, the next species capable of building a civilization could be octopuses, according to scientists, because they are intelligent, can use tools and are able to live in communities. TASR reports on the basis of a report from the Popular Mechanics server.
Extinction of species is a normal part of life on Earth. Changes in the environment, the activity of other species, but also natural disasters causethat species die out practically constantly and in their place new species appear. In addition to the gradual extinction of species, however, from time to time there will be a mass extinction of species, usually caused by the right natural disasters. Scientists have so far identified on the basis of fossil evidence five such events – the last one was the mass extinction of species 66 million years ago, during which even the dinosaurs disappeared from the face of our planet.
According to scientists, it is currently underway the sixth mass extinction. This time, however, it was not triggered by any natural disaster, but the activity of one specific species – man. A study published in 2023 in the scientific journal PNAS states that human activity through climate change and environmental loss irreversible damaged the biodiversity of the planet. Another study published in 2022 in the scientific journal Nature states that up to 50 percent of species may become extinct by 2080, if people do not significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental deforestation.
However, human activity can cause i the extinction of the people themselvesalbeit slowly gradual change in the environment or even suddenly, for example, as a result nuclear war. In that case, extinction would not only affect humans, it would also occur even faster the closest relatives of man – apes and monkeys. The new dominant species of the planet would therefore probably not arise from land, but from the seascientists believe.
Biologist Tim Coulson, who studies ecology and evolution at the University of Oxford, considers him one of the candidates for the dominant species of the planet squid. On the one hand, he admits that there are a number of scenarios in which octopuses will not take over the planet, but on the other hand, he states that they have a number of advantages that could enable them to do so.
One of the advantages of octopuses is their intelligence. There are records and evidence that they can use tools. Wild octopuses, for example, use coconut shells as a portable shield or shelter, octopuses reared in laboratory conditions were used tools to solve obstacles in mazes and even visited other octopuses in neighboring aquariums, adds Coulson.
This is made possible by their intelligence, which, although high, is different from human intelligence and resembles earlier computer intelligencereports Andy Dobson of Princeton University. The reason is the complicated nervous system of octopuses distributed throughout the body connecting the eyes, brain and eight tentacles of octopuses. According to Dobson, it therefore resembles a huge computer center.
Another advantage of octopuses, according to Coulson, is their agility, which enables them manipulate objects gently and accurately. However, they do not have a backbone, which is why, according to the biologist, they would probably found cities in the water. However, they would need to do that a source of cheap energy – they could obtain it in coastal areas from surf or tide, in greater depths again from hydrothermal resources, adds Coulson.
The biggest obstacle to the takeover of the planet by octopuses could be their unsociability. Octopuses have the reputation of recluses and they don’t even protect themselves cannibalism, although some species of squid they live in groups. To build cities, they would therefore have to be significantly more social, reports Peter Godfrey-Smith from the University of Sydney.
Extra octopus they inherit very little of their culture from their parentswhich is related to the way they reproduce – the female deposits the fertilized eggs in the crevice and leaves them to their fate. Therefore, to successfully establish a civilization, octopuses would have to be significantly more social, says Godfrey-Smith. If octopuses can’t establish civilization, other species can. According to Dobson, they can be the surprising winner of the worm, Rather, Godfrey-Smith estimates it at cockatoo
