'Mind-Boggling' Scrambled Genome Found in Octopus and Squid. It Could Explain their Smarts | Live Science

The California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides). Credit: Tom Kleindinst

Squid, octopus and cuttlefish have scrambled-up genomes that may help explain how these evolved the most complicated of any invertebrate.

New genetic sequencing reveals that these animals' genes are mixed up, arranged in strange orders not seen in other, non-cephalopod species. This mixing and matching may have given a new sandbox to play in, study co-author Caroline Albertin, a biologist at the University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory, told Live Science.

Source: '