ArticleScientific reports2020
Octopus arms exhibit exceptional flexibility.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Context-dependent mechanical reconfiguration is necessary for multifunctional behavior in an intrinsically confined hydrostat.iScience · 2026Article
- High Center-of-Mass, Multi-Legged Soft Robots Powered by Geometrically Encoded Liquid Crystal Elastomer Arc Appendages.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026Article
- Multiple Longitudinal Tracts in the Cephalopod Arm Sensorimotor System.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2026Article
- A detachable crawling robotic hand.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Soft bionic actuation explains the functional role of whisking in seal whisker sensing.Npj flexible electronics · 2026Article
- Integrated morphological and transcriptomic analysis of sucker development inAnimal cells and systems · 2026Article
- Multiple longitudinal tracts in the cephalopod arm sensorimotor system.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Octopus arm flexibility facilitates complex behaviors in diverse natural environments.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Diverse musculature layers in three species of octopus support precise motor control yet lack smooth muscle.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- How octopuses use and recruit additional arms to find and manipulate visually hidden items.Biology open · 2025Article
- Molecular and Morphological Circuitry of the Octopus Sucker Ganglion.The Journal of comparative neurology · 2025Article
- The Persistence of Memory: Behavioral Analysis and Arm Usage of a Nine-ArmedAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Design and Control of Dual-Segment Multi-Wire Driven Bionic Soft Arm with Integrated Suction Cups.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Topology, dynamics, and control of a muscle-architected soft arm.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.Research square · 2024Article
- Neuronal segmentation in cephalopod arms.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Light-controlled soft bio-microrobot.Light, science & applications · 2024Article
- 3D octopus kinematics of complex postures: Translation to long, thin, soft devices and their potential for clinical use.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The octopus arm is often referred to as one of the most flexible limbs in nature, yet this assumption requires detailed inspection given that this has not been measured comprehensively for all portions of each arm. We investigated the diversity of arm deformations in Octopus bimaculoides with a frame-by-frame observational analysis of laboratory video footage in which animals were challenged with different tasks. Diverse movements in these hydrostatic arms are produced by some combination of four basic deformations: bending (orally, aborally; inward, outward), torsion (clockwise, counter-clockwise), elongation, and shortening. More than 16,500 arm deformations were observed in 120 min of video. Results showed that all eight arms were capable of all four types of deformation along their lengths and in all directions. Arms function primarily to bring the sucker-lined oral surface in contact with target surfaces. Bending was the most common deformation observed, although the proximal third of the arms performed relatively less bending and more shortening and elongation as compared with other arm regions. These findings demonstrate the exceptional flexibility of the octopus arm and provide a basis for investigating motor control of the entire arm, which may aid the future development of soft robotics.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.