How an octopus coordinates its arms
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have filmed crawling octopuses, to work out exactly how the animals used their supremely flexible arms when they move.
This revealed the surprising simplicity of their motion; they just choose which arm to use to push themselves along.
The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, could help engineers to design biologically-inspired flexible robots.
This clip of the crawling creature, filmed by Dr Guy Levy, also shows how an octopus can move in any direction, no matter which way its body is orientated.
In the second part of the clip, a green arrow shows which way the animal is facing, and a blue arrow indicates the direction of movement.
16 Apr 2015