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Eight arms, endless skills: New study finds an octopus' arms can do it all

By Nell Greenfieldboyce
Published September 16, 2025 at 1:08 AM PDT

Researchers studied octopuses in the wild to learn whether they favor one of their eight arms over the others for certain jobs, but found the creatures give new meaning to ambidextrous.

Copyright 2025 NPR
Nell Greenfieldboyce
Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
See stories by Nell Greenfieldboyce