科學圖說

海底的路殺(Roadkill Under the Sea)

章魚是自然界的偽裝和脫逃大師。常見章魚快速變色隱匿於背景之中，或擠身於狹窄的洞穴隙縫裡，然這樣的偽裝和脫逃方式，在一望無際的沙地上卻無用武之地！由於章魚的挖洞鑽沙能力不怎麼好，住在沙地的不同種類章魚，不約而同地發展出特殊的躲藏方式：趕快貼平在沙上（以為）你看不到，看起來就像是被輪胎壓過的動物屍體，讓我不禁想起了陸上常見的「路殺」。

Octopuses are Nature’s camouflage and escape experts. They can quickly change color to blend in with their surroundings or squeeze into narrow caverns or cracks. However, such abilities are useless on flat, sandy bottoms. Since octopuses are not very adept at burrowing in the sand, species on sandy bottoms have coincidentally developed similar hiding strategies. They quickly flatten themselves, so that (they believe) they are difficult to be seen. In this state, they resemble an animal that has been run over by a vehicle on land, which made me think of “roadkill”.