3. Suitable appendages for manipulating objects related to the 

 technology in question. 



4. A social organization that would promote the collaborative ef- 

 fort required for the successful fulfillment of any major technolog- 

 ical undertaking. 



5. A languagelike communication system that would allow the 

 exchange of concepts between individuals. 



By way of speculation, I would like to conclude with the consid- 

 eration of several contemporary organisms that might, in some re- 

 spects at least, qualify as future candidates for evolution to convert 

 into technologically competent animals. 



Let us start with an invertebrate, or any molluscan cephalopod — 

 an octopus, cuttlefish or squid. All have 8 or 10 highly mobile ap- 

 pendages, each equipped with numerous suction cups; anyone who 

 has watched an octopus build its shelter in a rock pool from stones 

 that it has selected, carried, and positioned with care and precision 

 will have no doubt as to the manipulatory skill of these animals. 

 The sense organs of a cephalopod — including the beautiful eyes of 

 cuttlefish with their W-shaped irises, which allow vision forward 

 and backward at the same time — feed into central nervous systems 

 that are very different from those of mammals. Though different, 

 their series of ganglia and legendary giant axons are highly effective 

 and allow these animals to communicate in various manners, such 

 as through intricate patterns and colours of their skins (Holloway, 

 2000). Some of the giant squids are already very large and it is quite 

 conceivable that the neural hardware needed for a fully technolog- 

 ically-competent squid could be accommodated in one of these an- 

 imals if selective pressures developed to drive the process. It would 

 be fun to see such creatures "conquering the land" in their water- 

 filled "squidmobiles." 



In this context, birds should surely not be ignored, as a number 

 of species have higher brain-to-body weight ratios than is the case 

 in humans. Consider the case of the African Grey Parrot, so thor- 

 oughly studied by Irene Pepperberg (1999), with its remarkable rep- 

 ertoire of vocalizations. When I was a child, my family had a num- 

 ber of African parrots as pets and I was much impressed with the 



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