Real Cthulhu Science (10 Nov 2008)

Octopus had Antarctic ancestors!
News of 2008 November 10, Monday

Recent surveys by scientists have found interesting facts. Genetic analysis of octopodes indicates that they developed in the ocean around Antarctica. They spread out from that continent when an ice sheet covered it and created cold water currents in all directions to the north.

Many octopuses evolved from a common ancestor that lived off Antarctica (hmm, little cthulhus !!) more than 30 million years ago, according to a $650 million “Census of Marine Life” that is seeking to map the oceans from microbes to whales.

A modern octopus called Adelieledone in Antarctica seemed the closest relative of the original.

Octopuses apparently spread around the world after Antarctica became covered with a continent-wide ice sheet more than 30 million years ago, a shift that helped create oxygen-rich ocean currents flowing north, a report said.

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As Chrispy has often speculated, upon Cthulhu's arrival - before his long sleep - he looked about and found the most compatible intelligent life form, and thus took that form. As transmorphs, the elder gods and their servants assume whatever shape is convenient and most sympathetic to their needs.