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This is our sideblog where we write about animals, nature, and small bits of analysis on consciousness and similar content.

Main blog is @angelbreadportal

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I wonder how many living forms, if not all, possess some level of consciousnes. I'm so happy with the more and more studies we are getting!

🐦 On consciousness in birds. Recent studies show bird cognition seems to be organised differently yet support similar cognitive functions (the nidopallium caudolaterale as a functional equivalent of the prefrontal cortex, or the avian pallium for the mammalian cerebral cortex). This one is interesting because it corrects the misconception that, to be conscious or to have a certain level of intelligence, a creature requires systems exact to those in human bodies. (video about this)

🌱 Similarly, recent studies on plants explain better understanding of plant behavior, capacity to sense their surroundings, memory retention and proof of some level of consciousness. (video about this)

The adult cells of a turritopsis dohrnii (immortal jellyfish) can revert to a juvenile stage through transdifferentiation. This process illustrates detection of environmental stressors and an adaptive response.

(reaction to stressors: x) ¦¦ (transdifferentiation: x)

Aurelia aurita exposed to repeated mechanical taps or mild shocks gradually reduces its contraction response to the harmless stimuli, indicating celular-level plasticity. In another study, young jellyfish exhibited neophilia (preference in new things), indicating memory and the ability to retain information for at least one minute.

The fascinating little Bassia bassensis:

Ranging from a few centimeters to 10 cm, Bassia bassensis is a siphonophore. Instead of a single animal with organs, it's a colony of specialized individuals called zooids, each functioning like an organ.

Bassia bassensis exists in two stages:

Polygastric Stage (swimming colony):

This is when all parts are connected. The colony includes two swimming zooids (nectophores) for movement.

And between them, on the yellowish area, there are several cormidia. Each cormidium contains, in this case, a feeding and hunting zooid (gastrozooid) and a reproductive zooid (gonozooid).

Each gastrozooid has a stinging tentacle for capturing prey and a small mouth for feeding, with nutrients distributed through canals within the colony.

Eudoxid stage (reproductive stage):

This is when units containing gonozooids detach from the main colony as free living structures.

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It's confusing, but fascinating! I started learning about these because I tend to think of my organs as teammates working together to keep me alive, and I wanted to find a creature that could work as a metaphor.

I wrote this because I saw various comments saying dolphins are mean and sharks are not:

Dolphins, from what is known, seem to have a more complex mentality, and thus have both the capacity to be incredibly kind and cruel at the same time.

Dolphins do save people, care for their young and protect each other. They do also form alliances of males to coerce females into mating and show cruelty towards other animal species and their own.

(To note that spinner and stryped dolphins are different, less aggressive and experience less coercion, no infanticide either, but also less empathy and intelligence levels, based on the information we have for now).

Sharks however have a less complex mentality. They leave their young alone, may eat them later because they don't recognize them as their young anymore, but give killing attacks before eating their food, no playing involved, and are less prone to be aggressive unless provoqued.

🐋 Nuance 🐋

Spinner and stryped dolphins grow in cooperative pods with minimal aggressive behaviors and low to no coercion, but they don't seem to reach the same level of empathy and intelligence that resident orcas do.

🐋 On aggression or lack of thereof 🐋

Some toothed whales, like sperm whales, do have some dominance hierarchies, more aggression, and maybe coercion, though minimal in comparison to wolves, for example.

Beluga are the most fitting of non aggressive behaviors perhaps, while beaked whales aren't documented enough. Narwhals do compete but it's more about display than about violence.

🐋 Something I find curious 🐋

Whales can feel the water movement caused by another whale dozens of meters away (depending on the species, if water is calm or not too, may be few meters otherwise). Not just hearing, but physically feeling it.

¦ < part 1 ¦

🐋 On social structures of whales 🐋

Baleen whales (such as humpbacks and blue whales) mostly form tolerant, loose groups during migration or feeding, in which members can openly come and go. Their cooperation system is casual (like bubble-net feeding in humpbacks), without defined roles, and aggression is very low.

Toothed whales (sperm whales, pilot whales) live in family pods, usually led by the older females.

🐋 On family and reproduction 🐋

Sperm whales and pilot whales are species that show alloparenting (babysitting, helping calves...).

Go through long intervals between births, without suppression or coercion.

Males leave voluntarily when reaching adolescence and may come back to join or visit the pod.

Resident orcas are matrilineal, form lifelong pods, and have strong mother bonds. They also teach culture across generations, help care for calves, do coordinate hunting, and experience low coercion.

🐋 On Awareness 🐋

Whales can have songs used for generations (baleen whales) or dialects (toothed whales). They have long term memory that allows them to remember individuals and routes for decades.

They enjoy playing but also mourn their lost ones, and in general show one of the most complex and empathetic behavior of all animal species.

¦ > part 2 ¦

(I found interesting how both lifeforms reacted to optimal vs unfavorable living conditions and wanted to put them side by side).

Turritopsis dohrnii:

image source

Starts as a larva (planula), becomes a polyp, then an adult (medusa).

As an adult, it may:

1) Reproduce sexually, producing offspring that are genetically unique.

2) Under stress, revert back into a polyp through a process called transdifferentiation.

Any polyp (whether from a larva or from reversal) can stay as a colony, feeding on small drifting prey, and bud off clones, although it will change stage when conditions push it.

(I find fascinating how it can both revert its lifecycle, clone itself and sexually reproduce).

Physarum polycephalum:

image source

Starts as a spore, then becomes an amoeba-like form, and eventually enters the plasmodium stage (feeding stage).

If conditions are optimal, it remains a plasmodium.

It grows by dividing its nuclei and spreads its network in search of food. There's various studies and videos showing its ability to solve mazes and optimize networks.

If conditions aren't optimal but may improve, it can dry up and go dormant. This stage is called sclerotium.

If conditions are unfavorable and unlikely to improve, it forms a fruiting body and releases spores.