AI Insight
Researchers at Dartmouth University have demonstrated that octopuses can learn to use mirrors to locate food positioned behind them, a cognitive ability previously observed only in vertebrates such as mammals and birds. After training, the octopuses successfully identified the food's location approximately 73% of the time, indicating they understand mirrors as tools for gathering information rather than merely responding to their own reflections. This finding suggests octopuses possess more advanced cognitive capabilities than previously recognized.
Why it matters
This discovery expands our understanding of intelligence in invertebrates and challenges assumptions that complex cognitive skills like mirror use are limited to vertebrates with larger, centralized brains. The research may inform studies on the evolution of intelligence and could have implications for understanding different forms of cognition across the animal kingdom.
Understand the Science
Octopuses may be even smarter than we thought. Researchers at Dartmouth found that octopuses can learn to use mirrors to locate food hidden behind them—a skill previously seen only in vertebrates like mammals and birds. After training, the animals correctly identified the food’s location about 73% of the time, showing they could use a mirror as a tool rather than simply reacting to a reflection.