this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2024
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Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

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Posts and discussion about the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Hugo Award-winning author Zach Weinersmith (and related works)

https://www.smbc-comics.com/

https://www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersmith

@ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social

New comics posted whenever they get posted on the site, and old comics posted every day until we catch up in a decade or so

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https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/evolution-9

Alt textThe worst part is knowing that your great grandchildren will find the mutation sexy.

Bonus panel

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[โ€“] egrets@lemmy.world 19 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I did a little research. The ink sac is indeed attached near to the anus. It's thought to be an evolution of the hypobranchial gland still present in many mollusks, and the mucus-producing funnel gland that it works alongside may have originally been used to trap and excrete dirt particles when breathing through the gills - I guess very similarly to mammalian mucus in the respiratory system. It's used in conjunction with jet propulsion for distribution of the ink.

We're not sure what the use of the melanin that makes ink black was (it's kept it's current form in cephalopods for at least 300 million years) but it may have been a waste product from use in the body for camouflage or adjusting photosensitivity.

[โ€“] m_f@midwest.social 6 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks, this is a great comment!