Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
…and this is a pharyngula stage embryo.
• a longer profile of yours truly
• my calendar
• Nature Network
• RichardDawkins Network
• facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Atheist Nexus
• the Pharyngula chat room
(#pharyngula on irc.synirc.net)
What can we say to a man who tells you that he would rather obey God than men, and that therefore he is sure to go to heaven for butchering you? Even the law is impotent against these attacks of rage; it is like reading a court decree to a raving maniac. These fellows are certain that the holy spirit with which they are filled is above the law, that their enthusiasm is the only law that they must obey.
[Voltaire, 1764]
Vertebral variation, Hox genes, development, and cancer
Evolution of Hormone Signaling
Digit numbering and limb development
I think I despise anti-environmentalists as much as I do anti-evolutionists
Stay abreast of your favorite bloggers' latest and greatest via e-mail, via a daily digest.
« Creationists drown puppies! | Main | Hovind will be sharing a cell with Satan for a few more years »
Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: April 20, 2007 10:10 AM, by PZ Myers
By the way, did you know that creationists hate cephalopods because they can't stuff them in a sack and throw them in the water to drown? Also because they're cute and lovable and beautiful.
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
(TrackBack URL for this entry: )
YES! Send me a free issue of Seed.
If I like what I see, I'll receive 5 more issues (6 in all) for just $14.95. That's 50% off the cover price! If I'm not completely satisfied, I'll simply write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing. The free issue is mine to keep.
(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
Comments
OK- somebody explain it to stoopid here....
Can all cephalopods change color? What about the one above? Is she changing her pattern to mimic the sand grains?
Posted by: Christian Burnham | April 20, 2007 10:54 AM
Are you saying that cephalopods are the Creationists' Worst Nightmare?
Consider calamari - it is rubbery, hard to peel and doesn't have a "pop-top." Clear evidence that Natural Selection didn't have humans in mind as our food evolved.
Posted by: Mike Haubrich | April 20, 2007 10:56 AM
Christian, most cephalopods can change color, in fact I think all of them can but I'm not a expert. However, they don't always change color just to camouflage themselves, they can also do it for communication, defense, or courtship rituals. Depending on the species involved these can be extremely flamboyant, or mildly amusing. Use google video or youtube to do some searches on cuttlefish, they have a lot of good videos demonstrating the effect.
Posted by: Whatever | April 20, 2007 11:12 AM
Any color-changing in Nautilus? I suppose the shell would make it difficult to see and therefore pointless...?
Posted by: David Marjanović | April 20, 2007 11:57 AM
Wouldn't putting them in bags and taking them out of the water have the same effect?
Posted by: RCP | April 20, 2007 12:10 PM
I agree with RCP.
I think the important thing is really the bag.
That way they can't see the frightened little faces of the kitties (and cephalopodies) as they await their brutal death.
Posted by: George | April 20, 2007 1:27 PM
Can all cephalopods change color? What about the one above? Is she changing her pattern to mimic the sand grains?"
My guess is she probably sees a hand coming at her with a bag.
That cephalopod undoutedly has a recessive trait -- bag avoidance.
But pretty soon the creationists will undoubtedly have to use something else (a box?) since the "bag-attraction" gene (that makes animals curious about bags) will have been eliminated from the gene pool and the bag-avoidance gene selected.
Posted by: George | April 20, 2007 1:39 PM
There was a new one announced this week, found near some black smokers that doesn't seem to be pigmented, and may be blind. But I may be mistooken. rb
Posted by: arby | April 20, 2007 2:29 PM
Hey, PZ, I saw this entry in a recent Worth1000 contest, and immediately thought of you.
Posted by: wolfwalker | April 20, 2007 4:02 PM
He or she looks like they're meditating. Positively Buddha-like!
Posted by: Bourgeois Nerd | April 20, 2007 4:53 PM
Coming Monday, April 23, 2007:
Bill O'Reilly interviews Richard Dawkins
Posted by: quork | April 20, 2007 5:01 PM
PZ... I think you want this.
http://www.uncrate.com/men/style/tees-polos/oddica-octopus-trilogy/
Posted by: Steve_C (Secular Elitist) FCD | April 20, 2007 5:36 PM
We like to go to Epcot and, "annoy," the cuttlefish. Flash our bright clothing against the tank and make them change colors. "Green! No, FUSCHIA! No, blue!" It's a very light color change, but they do it when they swim by...I guess we're easily amused.
Posted by: K | April 20, 2007 6:37 PM
Too bad PZ didn't get to this domain name first...
http://www.squidsquid.com
Posted by: Jerry D. Harris | April 20, 2007 6:54 PM
My SQ is 162.5!
Posted by: twincats | April 20, 2007 10:33 PM
Don't creationists also hate cephalopods because the glaring FACT of their independantly evolved eyes gives lie to creationist stupidity?
Oh, and the whole Cthulu, elder gods, nameless, timeless, eldrich horrors from beyond time.
Posted by: autumn | April 21, 2007 1:33 AM