Humans and octopus share a “common ancestor” from 518 million years ago, which explains the intelligence of cephalopods

New research suggests that octopus and humans You can share an ancient evolutionary connection that helps explain the remarkable intelligence of Cephalopods. According to the results discussed by New scientistBoth species could track their cognitive complexity to a common ancestor that lived 518 million years ago.

The advance of the microarn

The key to this complexity lies in Microarn (Mirna) – Small regulatory molecules that control how genes are expressed.

A study led by Nikolaus rajewsky to the Max delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine He revealed that soft -body cephalopods such as octopus experienced a “massive expansion of Mirna’s gene repertoire.”

This significant increase seems to be an important driver behind the evolution of its advanced brains, which allows the creation of more diverse types of neurons.

The researchers pointed out: “We show that the main innovation of RNA of soft body cephalopods is a massive expansion of the repertoire of Mirna genes”, which underlines the scale of this evolutionary leap.

Convergent evolution of complex brains

What makes this finding even more surprising is that the brains of octopus and humans seem to have become complex in a remarkably similar way, despite following completely separate evolutionary paths.

Scientists describe this phenomenon as Convergent evolution. The expansion of microarn In both lineages it suggests that nature can favor certain molecular mechanisms by building complex brains, even in very different organisms.

This discovery points to a shared biological strategy to build intelligence in distant branches of life.

Changing animal intelligence perceptions

The study challenges traditional ideas about intelligence in the animal kingdom. The octopus have long fascinated researchers with their problem -solving skills, adaptability and curiosity, traits are now better understood through their RNA innovations.

Highlighting the role of microarn In Octopus’s brain development, scientists open a new window on how cognitive skills can arise independently in very different ways of life.

The parallel between the complexity of the human brain and the octopus suggests that intelligence could arise in many more ways than was previously thought.