When It Comes to Octopuses, Taste Is for Suckers - The New York Times - 0 views
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The cells of octopus suckers are decorated with a mixture of tiny detector proteins. Each type of sensor responds to a distinct chemical cue, giving the animals an extraordinarily refined palate that can inform how their agile arms react, jettisoning an object as useless or dangerous, or nabbing it for a snack.
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Though humans have nothing quite comparable in their anatomy, being an octopus might be roughly akin to exploring the world with eight giant, sucker-studded tongues
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The internal architecture of an octopus is as labyrinthine as it is bizarre. Nestled inside each body are three hearts, a parrot-like beak and, arguably, nine “brains”
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Imbued with their own neurons, octopus arms can act semi-autonomously, gathering and exchanging information without routing it through the main brain.
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It’s long been unclear, for instance, how the animals, just by probing their surroundings with their limbs, can distinguish something like a crab from a less edible object.
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exposed to octopus ink, which is sometimes released as a “warning signal,” Dr. van Giesen said. “Maybe there is some kind of filtering of information that is important for the animal in specific situations,” like when danger is afoot, she said.
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Humans, who tend to be very visual creatures, probably can’t fully appreciate the sensory nuances of a taste-sensitive arm
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But then again, most people could probably do without the metallic tang of keys every time they rummage in their pockets — or the funk that would inevitably dissuade every new parent from changing a diaper.
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(Even after amputation, these adept appendages can still snatch hungrily at morsels of food.)
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The cells of octopus suckers are decorated with a mixture of tiny detector proteins. Each type of sensor responds to a distinct chemical cue, giving the animals an extraordinarily refined palate that can inform how their agile arms react, jettisoning an object as useless or dangerous, or nabbing it for a snack.
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Each type of sensor responds to a distinct chemical cue, giving the animals an extraordinarily refined palate that can inform how their agile arms react, jettisoning an object as useless or dangerous, or nabbing it for a snack.
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Octopuses certainly know how to put that processing power to good use.
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By mixing and matching these proteins, cells could develop their own unique tasting profiles, allowing the octopus’s suckers to discern flavors in fine gradations, then shoot the sensation to other parts of the nervous system.
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Underwater, some chemicals can travel far from their source, making it possible for some creatures to catch a whiff of their prey from afar. But for chemicals that don’t move through the ocean easily, a touch-taste strategy is handy, Dr. Bellono said.