We need this information!

[Jamie D]

Wrong.

Oh BTW I also have a degree in Marine Biology as well as the others 

OK smarty bum.

I bet you cheated 

Octopus have two legs and six arms

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1044162/How-arms-does-octopus-Only--legs-say-scientists.html for a lay link.

Which is the same as other Cephalpods BTW

I protest!

Let me quote from the textbook, Invertebrate Paleontology, by the late Professor William Easton:

Order Octopodia (pg 474-478)

"... In this regard it is appropriate to mention that the largest octopus for which authentic measurements are available is species on the Pacific Coast of North America which reaches a diameter of 28 feet (6.5 m) when the arms are extended....

The first octopods appear in the late Cretaceous as the unique genus Palaeoctopus, from Lebanon (Fig. 11.39.3).  This specimen has an ink sac, two triangular fins, a partial umbrella, a single row of suckers on each arm, and is about 15 cm long....

Unlike the other coleoids, there is almost no evidence bearing on the origin of the Octopodida.  They are dibranchiates but they only have eight arms, whereas the other coleoids have ten arms.  It has been presumed by some authorities, therefore, that the Octopodia evolved from some other coleoids by complete loss of the conch and by reduction in the number of arms ... In this latter case, the eight arms of Ocotpodida would be homologous with the eight groups of tentacles in Nautilus."

Similarly, in the textbook Invertebrate Fossils, by Moore, Lalicker, and Fischer, discussing the morphology of the living cephalopod, Loligo (pg 336-338):

"Loligo is a streamlined creature, generally about 30 cm (1 ft.) in length, divided into a long, tapering body and a rounded head.  The head carries a pair of large eyes, which, like our own, possess a lens.  The mouth, located at the anterior end, is surrounded by ten muscular tapering arms studded with sucker disks.  Two of these (tentacles) are much longer than the others, and their suckers are concentrated in "hands" at the end."

The point I make is that that physiological function of a "leg" is both weight-bearing and locomotion.  In the case of the octopus, those are not the function of their tentacular arms.

Quod erat demonstrandum

[Cindy]

I protest!

Let me quote from the textbook, Invertebrate Paleontology, by the late Professor William Easton:

Order Octopodia (pg 474-478)

"... In this regard it is appropriate to mention that the largest octopus for which authentic measurements are available is species on the Pacific Coast of North America which reaches a diameter of 28 feet (6.5 m) when the arms are extended....

The first octopods appear in the late Cretaceous as the unique genus Palaeoctopus, from Lebanon (Fig. 11.39.3).  This specimen has an ink sac, two triangular fins, a partial umbrella, a single row of suckers on each arm, and is about 15 cm long....

Unlike the other coleoids, there is almost no evidence bearing on the origin of the Octopodida.  They are dibranchiates but they only have eight arms, whereas the other coleoids have ten arms.  It has been presumed by some authorities, therefore, that the Octopodia evolved from some other coleoids by complete loss of the conch and by reduction in the number of arms ... In this latter case, the eight arms of Ocotpodida would be homologous with the eight groups of tentacles in Nautilus."

Similarly, in the textbook Invertebrate Fossils, by Moore, Lalicker, and Fischer, discussing the morphology of the living cephalopod, Loligo (pg 336-338):

"Loligo is a streamlined creature, generally about 30 cm (1 ft.) in length, divided into a long, tapering body and a rounded head.  The head carries a pair of large eyes, which, like our own, possess a lens.  The mouth, located at the anterior end, is surrounded by ten muscular tapering arms studded with sucker disks.  Two of these (tentacles) are much longer than the others, and their suckers are concentrated in "hands" at the end."

The point I make is that that physiological function of a "leg" is both weight-bearing and locomotion.  In the case of the octopus, those are not the function of their tentacular arms.

Quod erat demonstrandum

Unlike fossils, both living and dead, science is dynamic and moves forward

[Devlyn]

Unlike fossils, both living and dead, science is dynamic and moves forward

I'm very disappointed with the insults. A fossil? Does Jamie even look remotely like she's made out of stone? Er, don't answer that.

[Jamie D]

In this case, ontogeny does recapitulate phylogeny.

[Cindy]

Since fossils are used as evidence against creationism, can we suggest Jamie wasn't created, just imposed?

[brainiac]

In this case, ontogeny does recapitulate phylogeny.

Is it sad that this made me laugh?