Octopuses could be the next big species after humans
What has eight arms, a beaked mouth, and is poised to take over the planet when we're all gone?


Last year, speculative fiction author Ray Nayler published "The Mountain in the Sea," his first novel, depicting a not-too-distant future in which humankind is faced with an awe-inspiring (and deeply disquieting) possibility: that our singular perch atop the evolutionary ladder may not be quite so singular after all. In the novel, a newly discovered community of hyper-intelligent octopuses off the coast of Vietnam developed its own advanced language and the ability to use complex tools.
While Nayler's story is wholly fictional, it is not without basis in a very real school of zoological thought, one which holds that octopuses are indeed unique within the animal kingdom as we understand it today. So much so that they may be Earth's next big species if ours ends up going the way of the dinosaurs.
'Filling an ecological niche in a post-human world'
While an octopus-dominated future may seem "improbable" at the moment, it "wouldn’t be the first time that an ocean-dwelling species took advantage of a land species extinction to adapt and evolve," Popular Mechanics said. That would namely be us humans, whose distant ancestors were initially aquatic before becoming land-based mammals.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Although birds and insects have demonstrated a capacity for complex thinking and tool usage, it's octopuses that are a "potentially better candidate for filling an ecological niche in a post-human world," Oxford University biologist Tim Coulson said to The European. They are some of the "most intelligent, adaptable and resourceful creatures on Earth," and octopuses' "advanced neural structure, decentralized nervous system and remarkable problem-solving skills" make certain types "well suited for an unpredictable world" under the right circumstances. They are even "capable of distinguishing between real and virtual objects, solving puzzles, interacting with their environment, handling intricate tools with their thumb-like tentacles, and thriving in a wide variety of habitats."
'Not likely to develop a culture'
Octopuses have certain biological features that could, under the right circumstances, place them at the top of the evolutionary heap, but there are a lot of variables involved that could waylay any hopes of an octo-centric future. Absent some dramatic, unforeseen evolutionary leap, "octopuses are still working from a snail blueprint, and there's only so much you can do with that toolbox," said biologist Culum Brown of Australia's Macquarie University at The Conversation. Crucially, octopuses' evolutionary prospects are "highly constrained by their very short life span," with most living for "just a year and some as little as six months."
Dexterity and problem-solving skills aside, octopuses are unlikely to create a "human-like society because of their social habits," said University of Sydney Philosophy of Science Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith to Popular Mechanics. In large part, that's because octopus parents are virtually non-existent in their babies' lives, meaning that in order to develop anything resembling a "culture" as we understand it, they would need to evolve to foster "more intergenerational connections." Given that octopuses have been evolving for hundreds of millions of years without those sorts of multi-generational cultural advantages, it's "unlikely that this will change anytime soon," the magazine said.
Conversely, however, octopuses' "hasty reproduction and quick intellectual maturity" could give them an "advantage in rapidly changing environments, thereby accelerating their evolutionary progress," Earth.com said. "These are just possibilities," Coulson said to The European. "It's impossible to predict with any degree of certainty how evolution will unfold over extended periods."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
The secrets of lab-grown chocolate
Under The Radar Chocolate created 'in a Petri dish' could save crisis-hit industry
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Trade war with China threatens U.S. economy
Feature Trump's tariff battle with China is hitting U.S. businesses hard and raising fears of a global recession
By The Week US
-
Corruption: The road to crony capitalism
Feature Trump's tariff pause sent the stock market soaring — was it insider trading?
By The Week US
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Full moon calendar: dates and times for every full moon this year
In depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
North America is 'dripping' into Earth's mantle
Under the radar Things are rocky below the surface
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
The dubious nature of de-extinction
The Explainer Is it a vanity project backed by billions, or the future of animal conservation?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US
-
Scientists genetically revive extinct 'dire wolves'
Speed Read A 'de-extinction' company has revived the species made popular by HBO's 'Game of Thrones'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Toxic algae could be causing sea lions to attack
In the Spotlight A particular algae is known to make animals more aggressive
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Space ads could be coming to a sky near you
Under the radar Making space for commercial profits
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US