The human species has done some incredibly smart things. We've revealed gravitational waves. We've discovered 118 chemical elements. We have taken beautiful photos of Jupiter. But humans can also be stupid.

OCTOPUSES are weird. This is not just because they look odd. It’s not because they’re disturbingly smart. It’s because they have a strange power. The ability to edit their own bodies. This has biologists scratching their heads. Evolution doesn’t work that way. It’s supposed to be spurred by genetic mutations — a change in DNA — that proves to be beneficial to the host.

Octopus fandom is out of control and blind to the evidence. By Daniel Engber.

Prehistoric squid were far more numerous, and their reign lasted longer, than the dinosaurs. Why do we know so little about them? By Colin Dickey.

In 1940, John Steinbeck helped catalog wildlife in the Sea of Cortez. Now, a new creature lurks beneath the ultramarine waters. By Lauren J. Young.

It might be connected to their extraordinary intelligence.

In “Other Minds,” Peter Godfrey-Smith shows how the abilities of the octopus offer insight into the evolution of animal intelligence. By Carl Safina.

A scuba-diving philosopher explores invertebrate intelligence and consciousness.

You don’t want to be speciesist about consciousness, do you? By Drake Baer.

The white beaches of Zanzibar’s coast are home to the octopus hunters, in search of the delicacy. Photographs by Tommy Trenchard and Aurelie Marrier d’Unienville.

The deep-dwelling creatures could reach lengths of at least 66 feet, says a provocative new study—but not everyone is convinced. By Michael Greshko.

Escaping from an aquarium is child's play when you are as smart as an octopus. By Nic Fleming.

Centuries ago, folklore told of baby dragons living deep underground. Now one of them has laid eggs. By Meehan Crist.

An octopus has made a brazen escape from the national aquarium in New Zealand by breaking out of its tank, slithering down a 50-metre drainpipe and disappearing into the sea. In scenes reminiscent of Finding Nemo, Inky – a common New Zealand octopus – made his dash for freedom after the lid of his tank was accidentally left slightly ajar. Staff believe that in the middle of the night, while the aquarium was deserted...

For Victorians the octopus inspired terror and apocalyptic visions. By Justin Parkinson.

True to its name, the mimic octopus impersonates a variety of other animals on the fly, morphing from an octopus to a banded sole to a lionfish to a sea snake. By Matt Simon.