Science Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating, and scientists finally know why

[The Helper]

Nature is made up of some amazing and intriguing creatures. Perhaps one of the most intriguing is the octopus. Some even believe they could be aliens. One mystery that has long evaded scientists is the octopus’s self-destruction after mating. For years, scientists have wondered why octopuses torture themselves after mating.

Now, after all this time, researchers may finally have the answer.

We’ve long known that mother octopuses torture themselves and sometimes even eat themselves when their eggs are close to hatching. While they aren’t the only creatures in the wild that die after mating, they do have one of the more gruesome approaches to the process.

For years, scientists have tried to discover why octopuses act this way after mating. Now, a new study published in the journal Current Biology could provide the answers we’ve all been looking for. Researchers say that mother octopuses torture themselves after mating due to chemical changes that occur around the time the mother lays her eggs.

Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating, and scientists finally know why

New scientific research could provide some long-searched-for answers to why octopuses torture themselves after mating.

bgr.com