![]() On the side facing out, you can see the clear lens, which works just like the lens in our eyes, to focus light. When scientists use sonar to detect squid in the water, this braincase is one of the major parts of the body that reflects the sound.ĭon't forget to look at the eyes themselves. It's not proper cartilage like humans have, but it's a similar protein. Between them in the middle of the head, and somewhat more difficult to identify, is the central ganglion, a collection of very soft nerve tissue that actually surrounds the esophagus-every bite the squid takes goes through its brain!Īs you cut into the head of a Humboldt squid, you'll notice that the brain is protected by a tough braincase that looks like it's made of cartilage. They are yellowish white, soft and fleshy. If you very carefully pull the eyes out of their sockets, you'll see the optic lobes, one behind each eye. Let's start with the brain, which comes in three parts: two optic lobes and a central ganglion. Photo by Danna Staaf.Ī dissection allows you to take a very close look at the nervous system of a squid, asking and answering questions about how it might work. Squids live in an entirely different environment, so their intelligence is probably quite different—and more difficult for humans, who don’t spend time swimming in a watery world bounded only by light and darkness, to understand. Furthermore, since octopuses are used to crawling on the ground and manipulating shells and rocks, it's easy to give them mazes and puzzles to solve. Octopuses live naturally in dens on the seafloor, an environment that is fairly easy to recreate in an aquarium, but most squids live naturally in the open ocean and need a great deal of space to move around. Unfortunately, it's much more difficult to study intelligence in squid, because they're more difficult to keep in the laboratory. You may even have heard that octopuses are the brains of the invertebrate world. But the cousins of clams and oysters, the cephalopods (octopuses, squids, cuttlefish), have complex nervous systems and behaviors, as well as excellent vision. Invertebrates, which are animals without backbones, are often considered simple and dumb, with no brains at all.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |