Every day we’re reminded of the things that’ll kill the human race off.
Climate change, a vengeful AI, nuclear attacks, asteroids or, in about 6 billion years, the Sun becoming a red giant and gobbling the globe up.
But if and when humans go the way of the dinosaurs, who will take over the world after us? An expert zoologist and biologist believes he has the answer.
The octopus.
Professor Tim Coulson of the University of Oxford said octopuses are ‘supremely intelligent’ and have the ‘dexterity, curiosity and ability to communicate with each other’
This puts them in a ‘pole position’ to take over the world one day.
‘Octopuses are among the most intelligent, adaptable, and resourceful creatures on Earth,’ he told The European.
They can ‘solve complex problems, manipulate objects, and even camouflage themselves with stunning precision’, which means that in ‘the right environmental conditions, they could evolve into a civilisation-building species following the extinction of humans’.
An octopus is a seriously brainy critter. So brainy, in fact, they have several ‘brains’, or clusters of neurons that control each tentacle.
Animal intelligence, however, is less about them getting an A* in GCSE Maths or learning to drive but rather cognitive skills like planning or solving problems to find food.
Octopuses have been recorded splitting coconut shelves in two so they can hide underneath, navigating complex maxes and unscrewing jars.
Cephalopods, a group that includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish, are generally good at both. It’s thought that when food is few and far between, animals are forced to develop more powerful brains to survive.
Though another way to measure animal intelligence – how they form societies – is where they fail at. Octopuses live lonely lives and don’t even care for their young.
While they aren’t quite ready to overthrow humanity, Coulson says that octopuses are so adept at making tools he can see them hunting on land one day in much the same way as humans did so for hunting at sea.
Over millions of years, octopuses may be able to survive on land beyond the 30 minutes they can already or create Scuba-style breathing gear.
‘In a world where mammals dominate, octopuses remain an underappreciated contender. Their advanced cognition, tool-use, and ability to adapt to changing environments provide a blueprint for what might emerge as the planet’s next intelligent species after humans,’ Coulson said.
Evolution takes its time. About half a billion years ago, the ancestor of the octopus was a snaillike creature that could use their shells as a buoyancy device.
Then 275,000,000 years ago, this ancestor ditched the shell and became the flexible creatures they are today.
‘Of course, the rise of the octopuses is all speculative: evolution is unpredictable, and we can’t say with certainty what path it will take in the event of human extinction,’ added Coulson.
‘The future of life on Earth is shaped by countless variables, and any number of species could rise to prominence. That said, given the octopus’s remarkable intelligence, adaptability, and diverse range of survival strategies, it wouldn’t be the most far-fetched bet to imagine them thriving in a post-human world.’
There are a fair few other contenders of what could become the dominant species. Apes, elephants, dolphins, parrots and crows are all smarter than your average animal, while some scientists believe ants and cats are in the running.
In other words, if it’s not octopuses, we might have a recreation of either Planet of the Apes, that one Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons involving killer dolphins or hoping no crows hold a grudge against you.
We will update this story in roughly a million years.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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