The Octopus Entangles Evolution
Midwest Creation Fellowship
Essay Contest 2016
Senior High - Second Place
By G.S.M. - 14 years old Manchester,
Michigan USA
The Octopus Entangles Evolution
“Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?” Job 12:8, 9
The octopus is a unique aquatic creature. Sometimes called the escape artist of the ocean, it is an
amazing, intelligent, and captivating invertebrate. The octopus has a gelatinous body capable of
changing color and shape almost instantaneously, eight long arms covered with suckers, and two
amazingly complex eyes.
This paper will examine the octopus and a few of its many astounding physical abilities, as well
as the evolutionary view of how the octopus came to be. The octopus fossil record will also be
considered to see whether it supports millions of years of evolution slowly changing an ancestor
into the octopus, or that in one day God created the octopus fully functional and complete.
The Octopus
The octopus is a member of the cephalopod family, an aquatic group of animals consisting of
squid, nautilus, cuttlefish, and octopus.1 The octopus is unique among the cephalopods, for they
are the only cephalopods that have no bones or shell.2
The octopus has a soft body, the only hard body part being the beak which is a mouth like
structure. The octopus has eight arms, all of equal length, each covered with hundreds of suckers.
1
2
Wikipedia, “Cuttlefish,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish (Accessed April 6, 2016).
“Introduction to Cephalopods,” http://www.thecephalopodpage.org (Accessed April 6, 2016).
2
The octopus varies greatly in size; the largest known octopus ever found weighed 600 pounds
and had an arm span of 30 feet.3 The smallest known adult octopus measures less than an inch.4
The octopus has many other amazing features, one of which is its eyes. These eyes are called
camera eyes, and are designed similarly to human eyes.5 Despite having these complex eyes,
they cannot see color. But according to recent evidence this does not cause the octopus to be
totally color blind, because they can see color with their skin.6
The octopus also has a rather complex heart system, with two hearts supplying the gills with
blood, and another heart pumping blood through the rest of the body.7
The octopus’s lifespan is fairly short; with males living up to five years and females usually only
one to two years. The life cycle begins when a mature male and female octopus mate. The male
leaves and the female finds a sheltered place to lay her eggs. She lays them on the bare ocean
floor in clusters containing anywhere from 2,000-3,000 eggs each. After the female has laid a
total of 100-500,000 eggs, she stays near them through the whole incubation period of anywhere
from 24-125 days, depending on water temperature. The female stays near the eggs to shelter
and protect them from predators and never leaves them, not even to catch a meal. By the time the
eggs begin to hatch, the female dies from starvation. Once hatched, the small octopuses wander
3
Wikipedia, “Octopus,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus (Accessed December 6, 2015).
“14 Things You Did Not Know about Octopuses,” http://news.softpedia.com/news/13-Things-You-Did-Not-KnowAbout-Octopuses-68305.shtml (Accessed December 6, 2015).
5
Map of Life, “Octopus and other cephalopods: convergence with vertebrates,”
http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_4_octopus-and-other-cephalopo ds-convergence-with-vertebrates
(Accessed December 6, 2015).
6
Elizabeth Mitchell, “Correlations Between Invertebrate Intelligence and Evolution,”
https://answersingenesis.org/animal-behavior/intelligence/correl ations-between-invertebrate-intelligenceevolution (Accessed December 6, 2015).
7
Wikipedia, “Octopus,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus (Accessed December 6, 2015).
4
3
away, looking for their first meal. Around 90% of the young octopuses become prey for other
marine animals.8, 9
The Suckers
The suckers on the arms of the octopus are extremely strong, enabling the octopus to grab and
hold prey with amazing strength. Each sucker also has its own memory, allowing the octopus to
have an astounding total memory. For example, if an octopus is placed in a tight enclosure it has
never been in before, experiments have shown that the octopus will take approximately 12
minutes to escape. If placed in the same enclosure again, the octopus will be out in about 90
seconds. What enables the octopus to escape so swiftly the second time it is placed in the
enclosure? Each suction cup remembered exactly where and in what sequence it was placed
during the first escape. Thus the octopus can “remember” and choose the correct path to the
escape.10
Each sucker is also equipped with its own sense of smell. This ability helps the octopus locate
its next potential meal with great speed and ease. Each sucker also has its own ability to taste
allowing the octopus to taste-test its captured prey before devouring it.11, 12
8
“14 Things You Did Not Know about Octopuses,” http://news.softpedia.com/news/13-Things-You-Did-Not-KnowAbout-Octopuses-68305.shtml (Accessed December 6, 2015).
9
Wikipedia, “Octopus,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus (Accessed December 6, 2015).
10
“14 Things You Did Not Know about Octopuses,” http://news.softpedia.com/news/13-Things-You-Did-NotKnow-About-Octopuses-68305.shtml (Accessed December 6, 2015).
11
Ibid.
12
Wikipedia, “Octopus,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus (Accessed December 6, 2015).
4
Defense
The octopus has many defense capabilities, the main one being camouflage. The octopus can
change its skin color instantaneously, blending in with its surroundings. It can also rapidly
change its shape and texture to match its surroundings. For example, if it is near a coral, it can
easily shape itself to match the coral, making it impossible to distinguish between the coral and
the octopus.13
If the octopus’ camouflage fails to conceal it, the octopus will discharge a cloud of dark-colored
ink, which confuses its predator as well as dulling its sense of smell. The ink can remain for as
long as 10 minutes before slowly dispersing. During the predator’s confused pause, the octopus
darts away to safety.
Some species of octopus can even detach an arm if it is caught by a predator. Or if being
pursued, it can release an arm, leaving a writhing and thrashing member to confuse the predator
as to where the real prey is. The octopus will regrow a detached arm in a few weeks.14
Evolution
The predominant evolutionary theory concerning the first cephalopods is that they evolved
around 515 million years ago, near the end of the Cambrian Period. It is believed that these early
cephalopods were small and had chambered shells, similar to the shells of today’s nautilus.
From this presumed ancestor, evolutionary biologists believe the cephalopods evolved in three
13
Ibid.
“14 Things You Did Not Know about Octopuses,” http://news.softpedia.com/news/13-Things-You-Did-NotKnow-About-Octopuses-68305.shtml (Accessed December 6, 2015).
14
5
different groups, each group taking their own and separate evolutionary course. These groups
were the Nautiloidea, the Ammonoidea, and the Coloidea.15
The Nautiloidea group contains the nautilus. The Ammonoidea contains a similar group of
shelled animals, thought now to be extinct, and finally, the Coloidea group containing the
octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Since the Coloidea group contains the octopus, we will look only
at it and its supposed evolutionary path.16
It is suggested that the Coloidea group was also broken up into three different groups, squid,
cuttlefish, and octopus.
These three cephalopods all supposedly continued their evolution
independently of each other, taking their own paths.
Around 140 million years ago, the
octopuses supposedly began slowly losing their shells and changing their body shape from the
shelled animal that they were into a more unstructured, octopus-like form. As their shells slowly
disappeared, the octopus’ original ten shorter arms also changed, eight gradually became longer
and two grew shorter until they were gone and the remaining eight were all of equal lengths.17
While the octopuses were evolving, squid were changing their shell into bone. The squid shells
were evolving into a small interior bone called a pen, used as a support for the mantle muscles.
The cuttlefish shells were also evolving into a bone called the cuttlebone, used for a similar
purpose as the squid’s pen bone. While these cephalopods were busily evolving bones out of
their shells, the octopus was slowly ridding itself of its entire shell, leaving the octopus with a
15
Neale Monks, “A Broad Brush History of the Cephalopoda,” http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php
(Accessed December 6, 2015).
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
6
soft and gelatinous body, capable of diving to great depths in search of food, which a shelled
animal could not achieve without its thin shell being crushed by the pressure.18
The Fossil Record
The fossil record for the octopus is very limited, and for one important reason: it is very difficult
to fossilize a totally soft organism. In fact it used to be believed that no wholly soft organism
could be fossilized. As one scientist humorously put it, “Finding a fossil octopus is about as rare
as finding a fossil sneeze.”19 So for a long time scientists had very little to study in the octopus
fossil record.
Recently, five beautifully preserved, nearly complete octopus fossils were found in Lebanon.
Even though these fossils were dated to be about 95 million years old, they looked exactly like
modern octopuses, with the exception of one fossil octopus that has ten arms. On this octopus the
ninth and tenth arms are slightly shorter than the other eight. While this fossil may seem like
perfect proof for the evolutionary theory, evolutionists are very puzzled with this strange fossil
“octopus.” In his paper, “Fossil Octopuses,” Phil Eyden states regarding the ten armed octopus
fossil, “Further specimens are desperately needed to make sense of the evolutionary
relationships.”20 But seen in the light of the Bible and creation it is easy to understand that this
fossil was likely from a now extinct small relative of the octopus.
18
Ibid.
Garry Graham, “Fast octopus fossils reveal no evolution,” http://creation.com/fast-octopus-fossils (Accessed
December 6, 2016).
20
Phil Eyden, “Fossil Octopuses,” https://www.tonmo.com/pages/fossil-octopuses/ (Accessed December 6, 2015).
19
7
The other four fossil octopuses look exactly like modern octopuses.21 The fossil record shows
that there are no transitional forms of octopuses with half-shells or half-arms. Some of the fossil
octopuses from Lebanon were complete with ink sacs, including some with preserved ink, and
even some suckers, looking exactly like a modern octopus.22 These newly discovered fossils
have evolutionists frantically searching for something to prove the evolution in these fossils.
Instead, they have been forced to admit that these specimens deny evolution. A quote from an
evolutionary magazine, National Geographic, says that these octopuses “look indistinguishable
from living species”.23 Dirk Fuchs, another evolutionist, admits, “These things are 95 million
years old, yet one of the fossils is almost indistinguishable from living species.”24
These
evolutionists are admitting the truth. These fossils are indistinguishable from today’s octopuses
because they are the same kind of octopuses, the very same creatures God created on Day 5 of
the creation week. “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature
that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God
created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was
good.”(Genesis 1:20, 21)
Other evolutionists like Dr. Neale Monks question the evolutionary theory of octopus origins.
“Cephalopods may have a good fossil record, and may be among the most studied
invertebrates
for a variety of reasons: from fisheries management through to neurophysiology, but in many
21
Garry Graham, “Fast octopus fossils reveal no evolution,” http://creation.com/fast-octopus-fossils (Accessed
December 6, 2016).
22
“Rare Fossil Octopuses Found,” http://www.livescience.com/3408-rare-fossil-octopuses.html (Accessed
December 6, 2015).
23
As cited in Richard Paley, “Octopus Origins,” http://objectiveministries.org/creation/octopus.html (Accessed
December 6, 2015).
24
“Rare Fossil Octopuses Found,” http://www.livescience.com/3408-rare-fossil-octopuses.html (Accessed
December 6, 2015).
8
ways they remain a complete enigma. Just how does evolution turn a floating slug into a racing
snail? And why?”25 The answer to this question and others like it is that evolution didn’t turn
anything into anything else, and indeed it could not. It can be concluded by examining today’s
octopuses and comparing them to the fossil record that there are no way the forces of time and
random chance could have changed a shelled ancestor into the octopus. For example, without
the essential abilities of camouflage which a shelled animal has no need of, the octopus would
quickly have been killed off while trying to evolve these defense capabilities. Or while trying to
evolve fully-formed suckers with their amazing senses of memory, smell, and taste, all octopuses
would surely have starved to death.
Therefore it is clear that God created the octopus on day 5 of the creation week and we still
have octopuses today. He created the octopus fully formed and fully functioning from the
beginning. The octopus had absolutely no need for evolution to help it to change into anything
else or to improve on God’s original design.
Conclusion
Octopuses are astounding creatures, clearly showing the handiwork of God. “Which doeth great
things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number” (Job 9:10). This paper has examined
a few of the many wonderful physical abilities of the octopus. The evolutionary view of octopus
origins was examined and compared with the fossil record and has shown that the two don’t line
up. It has also been shown that the Biblical record that God created the octopuses on the fifth
day, along with other sea creatures, and that the octopus has been the octopus all along, can
readily be proven by these beautiful, fully-formed fossil octopuses. So the conclusion is that
25
Neale Monks, “A Broad Brush History of the Cephalopoda,” http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php
(Accessed December 6, 2015).
9
God, the Creator of all the earth, has created the octopus fully formed and fully functional with
no need of change, and He called it good. “And God saw every thing that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31a)
10
Bibliography
“Introduction to Cephalopods,” http://www.thecephalopodpage.org (Accessed April 6, 2016).
“14 Things You Did Not Know about Octopuses,” http://news.softpedia.com/news/13-ThingsYou-Did-Not-Know-About-Octopuses-68305.shtml (Accessed December 6, 2015).
“Rare Fossil Octopuses Found,” http://www.livescience.com/3408-rare-fossil-octopuses.html
(Accessed December 6, 2015).
Eyden, Phil, “Fossil Octopuses,” https://www.tonmo.com/pages/fossil-octopuses/ (Accessed
December 6, 2015).
Graham, Garry, “Fast octopus fossils reveal no evolution,” http://creation.com/fast-octopusfossils (Accessed December 6, 2016).
Map of Life, “Octopus and other cephalopods: convergence with vertebrates,”
http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_4_octopus-and-other-cephalopods-convergence-withvertebrates (Accessed December 6, 2015).
Mitchell, Elizabeth, “Correlations Between Invertebrate Intelligence and Evolution,”
https://answersingenesis.org/animal-behavior/intelligence/correlations-between-invertebrateintelligence-evolution (Accessed December 6, 2015).
Monks, Neale, “A Broad Brush History of the Cephalopoda,”
http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php (Accessed December 6, 2015).
Paley, Richard, “Octopus Origins,” http://objectiveministries.org/creation/octopus.html
(Accessed December 6, 2015).
11
Wikipedia, “Cuttlefish,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish (Accessed April 6, 2016).
Wikipedia, “Octopus,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus (Accessed December 6,
2015).
12