Paul Katz Highlights Importance of Studying Cephalopods in 'The Transmitter'
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Over the course of the 20th century, biologists discovered that octopuses possess large, complex brains and camera-like eyes—features remarkably similar to those of vertebrates, despite their invertebrate lineage.
More specifically, it turns out that octopuses use sharp vision to guide sophisticated behaviors, much like humans. But humans and octopuses diverged over 500 million years ago—from a common ancestor that did not have vision—which means that their shared traits evolved independently.
The Transmitter recently published an article that centers on Cristopher Niell, Judit Pungor, and their team at the University of Oregon, and how they might have finally uncovered how we can bridge this evolutionary gap.
Paul Katz, professor in the College of Natural Sciences's Department of Biology and director of the UMass Initiative on Neurosciences, was interviewed for the article, and argued that, since the last common ancestor between octopuses and humans did not yet have vision, "any similarities between the two are likely driven by a key function rather than 'family resemblance.'"
"Katz thinks studying cephalopods is 'seriously the most important thing that neuroscience could do right now,' and studying cephalopod vision in particular, he adds, could reveal the forces that shaped the sense."
— The Transmitter
Read more in The Transmitter.