A New, Shape-Shifting ‘Flapjack’ Octopus Has Been Discovered in the Deep Sea Off the Coast of Australia The tiny Carnarvon flapjack octopus is the latest of ten species described by Australian scientists after a 2022 research trip The newly described octopus, Opisthoteuthis carnarvonensis, has red tentacles. Cindy Bessey / CSIRO A new species of shape-shifting octopus has just been described by scientists in Australia. The tiny cephalopod grows only about 1.6 inches across, but it can survive more than half a mile beneath the ocean’s surface. Scientists have named the octopus the Carnarvon flapjack (Opisthoteuthis carnarvonensis), after the Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park off the coast of Western Australia, where it was found back in 2022. The “flapjack” part of its name comes from its shape-shifting nature—flapjack octopuses can flatten their bodies into pancake-like discs. The octopus marks the tenth new species to be described from specimens collected by researchers aboard the Investigator, a vessel led by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s national scientific research agency. The ship has been charting Australia’s waters for years, mapping the seafloor and studying marine life. During the 2022 expedition, the team used high-tech cameras, nets and sleds to collect samples and snap photographs deep below the ocean’s surface. Many of the specimens they found are thought to be new species, according to a statement from CSIRO. Tristan Verhoeff, a volunteer systematic taxonomist at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, went through a long, multi-step process to name the new octopus and verify that it had never been seen before. “It is exciting, but at the same time, there is pressure to do it right,” he says to Crystal McKay at theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation. “It is easy to think you have a new species when you don’t. That’s why it takes time, as you need to compare specimens and literature descriptions.” To name the new species, Verhoeff had to collect measurements of the octopus, count its suckers, dissect its organs and take detailed photos, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Then, researchers compared that information to records of already identified species. Top view of the new octopus species (Opisthoteuthis carnarvonensis) Cindy Bessey / CSIRO The Carnarvon flapjack is a type of deep-sea dwelling “dumbo” octopus, so nicknamed because the ear-like fins just above their eyes give them a resemblance to the popular Disney elephant. “Dumbo octopus are a rare and unusual species that live on the seafloor,” adds Verhoeff in the statement. “They reproduce and grow slowly, are very soft and gelatinous and, unlike other octopus, they produce no ink and cannot change color.” Some of the Investigator’s other recent discoveries include the painted hornshark, the parallel-spine scorpionfish and an “incredibly rare” blind cusk eel. These creatures all add to scientists’ understanding of seafloor habitats in Western Australia. A researcher holds the painted hornshark, which was discovered on the Investigator's 2022 expedition. Frederique Olivier / CSIRO Scientists discovered the parallel-spine scorpionfish on the 2022 research voyage. Frederique Olivier / CSIRO The findings also “help marine managers, such as Parks Australia, better conserve and protect the incredible diversity of marine life that inhabits Australia’s oceans,” says Venetia Joscelyne, the CSIRO Marine National Facility team leader, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Incredibly, scientists estimate that there are likely more than 1,000 new species waiting to be described from specimens collected on CSIRO RV Investigator voyages over the past ten years,” she adds in the statement. If you want to feel like you’re part of the adventure, you can watch a live stream of the vessel on its journey of discovery. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

The full schedule for SIGGRAPH 2025 is out! While more sessions are always been added, I’ve gone through the list and found a few highlights. As usual, the Talks sessions are SIGGRAPH’s secret weapon of in-depth looks behind the scenes at VFX and animation projects. See the highlights below: Superman: Harnessing Numeric Power for Cinematic Magic, from Wētā FX (a production session) Doodle: A Modular Toolset for 2D Artistic Control in the 3D Effects of The Wild Robot and The Bad Guys 2, from DreamWorks Animation Highly Accurate GPU-Accelerated Animation Rigs for Toothless (in How To Train Your Dragon), from Framestore Choreography of Hair and Cloth in Disney’s “Moana 2”, from Walt Disney Animation Studios Advancements in Non-Procedural Groom Workflows for Mufasa: The Lion King, from MPC/Technicolor Blinded By The Light: A Case Study Of HDR Integration In Animation Production (in Sole Mates), from Netflix Animation Studios (previously, Animal Logic) Designing Oscar: Bespoke Tablet-Based Workflows for ILM StageCraft, from ILM Ooze Control: Procedural Shapeshifting FX in Pixar’s Elio, from Pixar Stabilizing Impossible Collisions with Loki, from Wētā FX Puppets to Pixels – Using live physical puppet performances for digital animation characters and creatures, from a range of presenters There are SO many more! Find the full programme here: https://s2025.conference-schedule.org/ The post The SIGGRAPH 2025 program is out – here’s some highlights! appeared first on befores & afters.

Going for a stroll Carnivorous crocodile-like monsters used to terrorize the Caribbean While low sea levels helped sebecids spread, rising waters left them isolated. Elizabeth Rayne – May 16, 2025 1:10 pm | 21 Credit: By Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 3.0 Credit: By Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 3.0 Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more How did reptilian things that looked something like crocodiles get to the Caribbean islands from South America millions of years ago? They probably walked. The existence of any prehistoric apex predators in the islands of the Caribbean used to be doubted. While their absence would have probably made it even more of a paradise for prey animals, fossils unearthed in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic have revealed that these islands were crawling with monster crocodyliform species called sebecids, ancient relatives of crocodiles. While sebecids first emerged during the Cretaceous, this is the first evidence of them lurking outside South America during the Cenozoic epoch, which began 66 million years ago. An international team of researchers has found that these creatures would stalk and hunt in the Caribbean islands millions of years after similar predators went extinct on the South American mainland. Lower sea levels back then could have exposed enough land to walk across. “Adaptations to a terrestrial lifestyle documented for sebecids and the chronology of West Indian fossils strongly suggest that they reached the islands in the Eocene-Oligocene through transient land connections with South America or island hopping,” researchers said in a study recently published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Origin story During the late Eocene to early Oligocene periods of the mid-Cenozoic, about 34 million years ago, many terrestrial carnivores already roamed South America. Along with crocodyliform sebecids, these included enormous snakes, terror birds, and metatherians, which were monster marsupials. At this time, the sea levels were low, and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean are thought to have been connected to South America via a land bridge called GAARlandia (Greater Antilles and Aves Ridge). This is not the first land bridge to potentially provide a migration opportunity. Fragments of a single tooth unearthed in Seven Rivers, Jamaica, in 1999 are the oldest fossil evidence of a ziphodont crocodyliform (a group that includes sebecids) in the Caribbean. It was dated to about 47 million years ago, when Jamaica was connected to an extension of the North American continent known as the Nicaragua Rise. While the tooth from Seven Rivers is thought to have belonged to a ziphodont other than a sebacid, that and other vertebrate fossils found in Jamaica suggest parallels with ecosystems excavated from sites in the American South. The fossils found in areas like the US South that the ocean would otherwise separate suggest more than just related life forms. It's possible that the Nicaragua Rise provided a pathway for migration similar to the one sebecids probably used when they arrived in the Caribbean islands. Walking the walk So how did sebecids get from one land mass to the other on foot? They were made for it. Sebecids evolutionarily diverged from crocodiles during the Jurassic period. They had skulls similar to those of theropod dinosaurs, with a high rostrum (which holds the teeth along with the palate and nasal cavity) that was long and narrow. Their mouths were full of ziphodont teeth, which are compressed along the sides and have a serrated edge made for tearing flesh. Most important among the adaptations that made sebecids terrestrial animals were legs longer than their crocodilian brethren—legs made for walking on land. “Considering their terrestrial adaptations, their dispersal may have been either facilitated by some ephemeral terrestrial connection or string of large and closely spaced islands or occurred on a natural raft,” the research team said in the same study. Though they have been found across South America, earlier specimens of sebecids are best documented in the south of the continent, while later specimens surfaced in the north and tropical zones. Both the ziphodont teeth and concave vertebrae are found among the fossils found in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, giving them away as sebecids. The locations of the fossils are consistent with the types of environments these carnivores were thought to inhabit as the Eocene gave way to the Oligocene. After they ended up in the Caribbean, the original population of sebecids eventually became isolated as sea levels rose, leaving the sub-populations on islands surrounded by water. The sebecids were apex predators in South America and are thought to have stayed at the top of the food chain in their new hunting grounds. Some sebecid remains have been found with fossils of terrestrial and semiaquatic vertebrates, such as sloths and turtles, that supposedly were their prey. Not only did sebecids get around, but they also lasted 5 million years longer in the Caribbean than they did in South America. This might have been because certain plant and animal species that died out on the mainland continued to survive on the islands. Crocodiles and predatory birds took over as apex predators after the sebecids died out. Even with a mouth full of knives, you can’t be at the top forever. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2025.  DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2891 Elizabeth Rayne Elizabeth Rayne is a creature who writes. Her work has appeared on SYFY WIRE, Space.com, Live Science, Grunge, Den of Geek, and Forbidden Futures. She lurks right outside New York City with her parrot, Lestat. When not writing, she is either shapeshifting, drawing, or cosplaying as a character nobody has ever heard of. Follow her on Threads and Instagram @quothravenrayne. 21 Comments

Is it one screen or two? Why not both? LG Display has developed an innovative micro-LED display that can separate into a pair of panels and merge back together again. We got a look at the concept product at the SID Display Week show in San Jose, California. At first glance, it seems like you’re staring at a single screen. But then the display seamlessly separates into two individual panels. The screens can then merge back again with the press of a remote. Throughout the process, the panels remain on, continuing to beam image or video.The concept certainly stands out from today's PC monitors, giving you a way to physically separate your desktop space for easier multi-tasking. LG developed the concept to demonstrate its "zero bezel" screen technology, which eliminates the traditional black rims found on today’s displays. With no bezels, the micro-LED screens can seemingly merge together. On closer inspection, you can sometimes make out the line separating both panels. But most of the time, it’s invisible or hardly noticeable. Recommended by Our EditorsThe company’s spec sheet says that each panel is 22 inches across, with a 480-by-540 resolution and refresh rates from 48 to 144Hz. Each display can then be packed together to create a large display in custom shapes or sizes. (Credit: PCMag/Michael Kan)It's unclear if the concept will ever become an actual TV or monitor. But an LG representative said the company is close to reaching the production stage for its zero bezel micro-LED screens. No exact price was given, but the screens will be “expensive,” the rep added. Samsung showed off a similar concept involving “Bezel Less” OLED tiles at MWC in March.