(With Video) Two species of tropical octopus have learned a neat trick to avoid predators — they lift up six of their arms and walk backward on the other two. This first report of bipedal behavior in octopuses, written by University of California, Berkeley, researchers, will be published in the March 25 issue of Science.When walking, these octopuses use the outer halves of their two back arms like tank treads, alternately laying down a sucker edge and rolling it along the ground. In Indonesia, for example, the coconut octopuslooks like a coconut tiptoeing along the ocean bottom, six of its arms wrapped tightly around its body.
UC Berkeley graduate student Crissy Huffard clocked the two-legged speed of one coconut octopus at two and a half inches per second, while a second individual zoomed along, backwards, at five and a half inches per second. This is faster than they can crawl, but probably slower than they jet around.The other type of octopus, which camouflages itself as algae in tropical waters from Indonesia to Australia, looks like a sea monster scooting along the sea floor on two legs.Huffard filmed this creature off Australia's Great Barrier Reefeasily rolling over rocks and other obstacles."This behavior is very exciting," said Huffard, who first noted it five years ago in the coconut octopus but only recently was able to capture both types of octopuses on film. "This is the first underwater bipedal locomotion I know of, and the first example of hydrostatic bipedal movement."
It has probably slunk off to a neighbouring suburb to become the Penge
Panther, the Catford Cheetah or the Beast of Beckenham by now.
But residents of the blossom-filled streets of Sydenham were still
shaking last night as a father of three told how he had been mauled by
a black cat the size of a labrador.
Police armed with Taser stun guns sealed off roads in south-east
London, school gates were locked and teachers warned pupils to keep
away from wooded areas after Tony Holder escaped with a cuff around the
face from the big cat.
Mr Holder, 36, was calling in his tabby, KitKat, at 2.15am yesterday when he spotted his pet being savaged by a 5ft-long animal.The black, panther-like creature then sprang at him in his backgarden."It had pinned the cat down, but when it saw me it let the cat go and jumped on my chest, knocking me to the ground," he said."I could see these huge teeth and the whites of its eyes just inches from my face.
It was snarling and growling and I really believed it was trying to do some serious damage."I tried to get it off but I couldn't move it, it was heavier than me."I was scared. I really thought my life was in danger but all I was worried about was my family. It was an absolute nightmare."In the gloom, Mr Holder's 11-year-old daughter Ashleigh, watched from a bedroom window. I just saw my dad flying backwards and struggling with something," she said. "I was really scared."As Mr Holder was being treated for scratches by ambulance staff, he saw the beast saunter past again.Armed police arrived, sealed off the streets around Mr Holder's home, loaded their stun gunswith tranquillisers and searched for it with flashlights.The animal gave them the slip, but as tabloid reporters scoured the streets in safari gear brandishing butterfly nets, the Guardian picked up the scent of something big across the railway line by Catling Close.Billy Rich, 44, was looking out of his window at 5.30am when he saw a black creature leap across the road and bound south towards Mayow Park."I see a ... thing," he said."What's he supposed to have seen?" asked his ex-wife."The beast of Sydenham," your correspondent explained."The only beast of Sydenham is him," she replied, prodding a finger at Mr Rich."On the news they said it was as big as a Doberman, but it wasn't," insisted Mr Rich. "It was big and black and I thought, fucking hell, what was that?"It definitely wasn't a pussy cat. It was too big. The way it jumped, you could tell itwa......
A £5,000 reward has been offered for the capture of a "big cat" which has been terrorising a farming community. The so-called "Beast of Burford" has been spotted prowling near farms and has killed several sheep in west Oxfordshire, according to farmers. Foxbury farmer Colin Dawes told the BBC he saw the "large black cat" running away after killing three of his sheep. Cotswold Wildlife Park has now offered to pay £5,000 to anyone who can capturethe creature alive.
Mr Dawes told the BBC News website said: "The sheep were killed with the typical big cat hunting technique. "It grabs them by the throat, strangles them and then rips out their throat before taking away the front shoulder." He said his neighbour saw the big cat on the Westwell to Burford Road two weeks ago. Pc Ray Hamilton, wildlife crime officer at Thames Valley Police, admitted there had been several sightings - but said this was not unusual. "We've had sightings of everything you could imagine - pink flamingos, lions, dingos, wolves and evena giant ant-eater in Pangbourne. "I keep an open mind, I have to, but I do think people mis-identify things. "Something is killing sheep. I don't know what that is, but there is a possibility there's something out there, an animal that shouldn't be there, but I don't have any proof."
A cyclist has claimed he saw a "big cat" in an area of west Wales which has become notorious for sightings of unidentified large felines. Dixie Tilley, from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, was cycling along roads near the town when he saw what looked like a black panther. He said he got within 40 yards of the animal and got a good look at it before it disappeared under a fence. In the past, the Welsh assembly government has investigated sightings. Mr Tilley told BBC Radio Wales he was cycling along abike track when he saw the animal coming towards him.
"I though, oh that's a big dog. I was cycling quite quietly, then it saw me and went under the fence. It sort of loped across the field and I thought, that's not a dog," he said. "I could see by the shape of its tail. We've got a cat at home and it's just like it, only this is 20, 30 times bigger. But it seemed to cover lots of ground, then it sort of disappeared." He saw some people a few minutes later and mentioned it to them. They told him there had been one spotted about a year earlier in the area. "It was jet black and itwas really, really shiny. It was bigger than an Alsatian but longer. "If you see a cat, their back is flat and their head is low. A dog is more upright and a tail is swishing. "I don't know much about them really. I've seen these stories in the paper and I've always taken it with a pinch of salt really, but having seen it, it's wonderful.
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(With Video) Two species of tropical octopus have learned a neat trick to avoid predators — they lift up six of their arms and walk backward on the other two. This first report of bipedal behavior in octopuses, written by University of California, Berkeley, researchers, will be published in the March 25 issue of Science.When walking, these octopuses use the outer halves of their two back arms like tank treads, alternately laying down a sucker edge and rolling it along the ground. In Indonesia, for example, the coconut octopuslooks like a coconut tiptoeing along the ocean bottom, six of its arms wrapped tightly around its body. 
View: Full Article | Source: UC Berkley News 
A £5,000 reward has been offered for the capture of a "big cat" which has been terrorising a farming community. The so-called "Beast of Burford" has been spotted prowling near farms and has killed several sheep in west Oxfordshire, according to farmers. Foxbury farmer Colin Dawes told the BBC he saw the "large black cat" running away after killing three of his sheep. Cotswold Wildlife Park has now offered to pay £5,000 to anyone who can capturethe creature alive. 
A cyclist has claimed he saw a "big cat" in an area of west Wales which has become notorious for sightings of unidentified large felines. Dixie Tilley, from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, was cycling along roads near the town when he saw what looked like a black panther. He said he got within 40 yards of the animal and got a good look at it before it disappeared under a fence. In the past, the Welsh assembly government has investigated sightings. Mr Tilley told BBC Radio Wales he was cycling along abike track when he saw the animal coming towards him. 
