Ika 4 Oku-Nen no Seizon Senryaku [Squid Empire: The Rise and Fall of the Cephalopods]

About this book

Language: Japanese

Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs. And before there were fish in the sea, there were cephalopods – the ancestors of modern squid and Earth's first truly substantial animals. Cephalopods became the first creatures to rise from the seafloor, essentially inventing the act of swimming. With dozens of tentacles and formidable shells, they presided over an undersea empire for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, the ocean's former top predator became its most delicious snack. Cephalopods had to step up their game.

Many species streamlined their shells and added defensive spines, but these enhancements only provided a brief advantage. Some cephalopods then abandoned the shell entirely, which opened the gates to a flood of evolutionary innovations: masterful camouflage, fin-supplemented jet propulsion, perhaps even dolphin-like intelligence.

Ika 4 Oku-Nen no Seizon Senryaku is an epic adventure spanning hundreds of millions of years, from the marine life of the primordial ocean to the calamari on tonight's menu. Anyone who enjoys the undersea world – along with all those obsessed with things prehistoric – will be interested in the sometimes enormous, often bizarre creatures that ruled the seas long before the first dinosaurs.

Summary in Japanese:
食材として身近な存在であるイカやタコ。
その姿から海の怪物などの神話的キャラクターとしても馴染みがありますが、
実際には魚類や海生哺乳類と並び、海で繁栄している生物群です。
この本では、知っているようで知らないイカやタコの本当の姿を、
主に進化の観点から紹介します。
地球の歴史のなかで、近縁種であるアンモナイトなどが消えていったのと対照的に、
イカやタコの祖先はいくつもの大絶滅を生き延びてきました。
その過程で、現在のイカやタコの特徴や能力が
どのように形づくられてきたのか…その謎を解き明かします。

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