If we go far enough back in evolutionary history, we encounter the last known common ancestor of humans and cephalopods: a primitive wormlike animal with minimal intelligence and simple eyespots.

To understand how aliens might think, Dominic Sivitilli went to the bottom of the sea to find the closest thing: an octopus. Its sophisticated nervous systems and sensitive suckers allow it to do ...

What defining changes in the genetic code took place after we separated from our most recent ancestor? Looking at the places where all living humans share a novel genetic signature but the ...

Still, the Nature report does appear to extend the time at which these two groups of human ancestors co-existed -- to at least 500,000 years, Trinkaus said. And what of the erectus specimen's ...

A set of new studies from the University of Utah and elsewhere found that human ancestors and relatives started eating an increasingly grassy diet 3.5 million years ago. The studies included ...

An octopus' brain is on the same wavelength as ... In captivity they can learn to solve puzzles, open jars - and squirt humans they don't like. They are as smart as the average dog.

The actions taken by the little girl are the best course of action if an octopus out of water is ever encountered.

This article was supported by readers like you. Our mission is to provide accurate, engaging news of science to the public. That mission has never been more important than it is today. As a ...

Another unusual aspect of the blanket octopus: It’s immune to the stinging cells of the highly dangerous (to humans at least) jellyfish, the Portuguese man-of-war, which it uses to its advantage ...

A woman was bitten by the deadly blue-ringed octopus while swimming off a popular beach in Sydney. The woman, who is in her 30s, was nipped after the tiny creature fell out of a shell she picked ...