Opening jars, playing with toys, sneakily escaping from confinements, jetting water to soak people—#octopuses are notorious for such intelligent antics!
Their large brains make them capable of high-order cognitive behaviours, including problem-solving and tool usage.
Now, researchers have come across yet another interesting behaviour among the female octopuses: one which involves throwing objects at males attempting to mate with them!
During the study, #researchers observed that in most instances, females hurled materials like silt, shells and rocks to remove obstacles in their way or to build nests.
But in some cases, these objects were clearly thrown at nearby, mate-seeking male octopuses.
Multiple instances of females targeting specific males were also observed.
In one scenario, a female was seen throwing silt at a particularly bothersome male octopus at least 10 times!
Females did the hurling by grabbing rocks, silt or shells and holding them under the body.
The material was then placed over a siphon that octopuses use to push out a jet of water very quickly, and subsequently propelled at the desired target.
Illustrations: Rebecca Gelernter
There was a clear difference b/w the throws meant to clear our material and the ones aimed to repel suitors.
The latter projectiles were launched b/w the first and second tentacles for better precision.
One female even threw a shell like a frisbee using one of her tentacles!
The male octopuses were smart enough to dodge the objects, but perhaps not as quick, as they were successful approximately half the time.
However, they remained courteous throughout, as no instances of males retaliating by tossing things back at the females were observed.
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The teeth of a new species of the hybodont #shark, which belonged to the #Jurassic era, have been discovered for the first time in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. #Paleontology#Fossil
The fossils were discovered from the Jurassic rocks in the #Jaisalmer region of #Rajasthan. The rocks are between 160 and 168 million years old.
The crushing teeth represent a new species, named by the research team as 'Strophodusjaisalmerensis'.
The genus Strophodus has been identified for the first time in the Indian sub-continent, and is only the third such record from Asia—the other two being from Japan and Thailand.
The #OortCloud—a shell of debris in the farthest reaches of our #SolarSystem—may consist of more #interstellar objects as compared to local bodies from our own system, as per new research.
It was only two years ago that humans discovered Borisov: the first and only interstellar comet to enter our solar system from a completely foreign star system.
But now, the new study suggests such phenomena might not be too rare!
But if so, why have we only ever seen just one interstellar object so far?
According to study authors, that's simply because we don’t have the technology to see the others yet.
Astronomers have discovered an #asteroid that revolves around our Sun faster than all other #spacerocks! Named 2021 PH2, it is approximately 1 km wide.
📸: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva
This newly discovered asteroid completes one orbit around the Sun in just 113 Earth days. This is the shortest orbital period of any #cosmicobject in our solar system except #Mercury, which takes only 88 days!
In Pic: Mercury’s solar transit
📸: NASA/Bill Ingalls
This asteroid was initially positioned in the main #AsteroidBelt between Mars and Jupiter but got pulled closer to the Sun by the gravitational influence of inner planets.
📸: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/DOE/DECam/AURA/S.S. Sheppard, Carnegie Institution of Science
#ClimateChange impacts all species through extreme weather events, #habitatchange & #resourcescarcity, and the #Walrus is no different. Declining ice has particularly challenged the survival of female and young walruses.
#GlobalWarming has led to a decline in the #SeaIce that walruses use to rest and access clam beds. Therefore, these mammals are being forced to crowd offshore, where clams are scarce, and the risk of stampedes is high!
(📸: Capt. Budd Christman, NOAA Corps)
Studying #biomarkers at various #foodchain levels is necessary to understand the role of sea ice in the #foodweb. Since clams are an essential part of the Walrus diet, the more they flourish, the more food walruses will have. Thus, researchers use walrus tissues as biomarkers.
Besides #GlobalWarming, another threat looms over the Thwaites glacier (aka #DoomsdayGlacier): Earth’s natural, internal heat. It has the potential to speed up the melting of this glacial mass! #ClimateChange
Nestled at the heart of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, the Thwaites glacier is hailed as a global threat due to its size. Its area is equivalent to the Indian state of #Karnataka's i.e., almost 192,000 sq km.
If it melts, it could submerge several coastal areas around the world!
Scientists have long suspected that the Earth’s natural heat comes in touch with the surface of this region.
This is because West #Antarctica is stacked on a tectonic mass that's just 17 to 25 km thick! In comparison, the East side is as thick as 40 km.
#China's central Henan province received its heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years—Zhengzhou saw 624 mm of rainfall on Tuesday, with a third of that amount falling between 16:00 and 17:00 alone.