I tried to resist but after a while I had to check what’s the fuzz about octopus DNA findings.
“The octopus genome and the evolution of cephalopod neural and morphological novelties” is the paper, by Caroline B. Albertin et alli, that triggered the information treasure hunt in their DNA chest.
Cephalopods have the largest nervous systems among the invertebrates. Camera-like eyes, smart arms, early embryogenesis and great camouflage. Genome sequencing found expansions in genes thought unique of vertebrates. Study found hundreds of genes unique to cephalopods with elevated expression levels, including in the nervous system.