Scientists have been puzzled for years over how octopuses manage to coordinate the movements of their many limbs without leaving themselves in tangles. Now, researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have provided an answer to the mystery, according to the Associated Press.

Binyamin Hochner, one of the researchers, claimed that the way octopuses move is different from any other creature. “Octopuses use unique locomotion strategies that are different from those found in other animals,” he said. “This is most likely due to their soft molluscan body that led to the evolution of ‘strange’ morphology, enabling efficient locomotion control without a rigid skeleton.”

Hochner, along with two other colleagues, studied frame-by-frame videos of captured octopuses moving around. The study revealed that the animals’ evolutionary history led to their extraordinary mode of transportation.

Octopuses, which are classified as cephalopods, descend from ancestors which were once much more rigid and protected. “During evolution, octopuses lost their heavy protective shells and become more maneuverable on the one hand, but also more vulnerable on the other hand,” explained Guy Levy, a co-author of the study.

In order to adapt to the vulnerability of losing their shells, octopuses developed long, slender, and mobile appendages to aid in quick movement. Other cephalopods typically move by using one strong, slow, and powerful “foot.”

The new study has discovered that octopuses are one of the only creatures who do not need to move in the direction their heads face. The only other exception to the norm that has been discovered is the crab, which moves sideways to its head’s orientation.

Researchers also discovered that an octopus does not use its limbs to push itself in the direction it needs to go, but moves by lengthening and contracting its tentacles. It often does this in what is referred to as a “bilateral symmetric pattern,” which means that four tentacles operate on one “side” of the body, and the other four mirror the movements on the other “side.”

Now, researchers are looking into how octopuses are able to use all of their neural circuits to coordinate all its appendages at the same time. Their findings so far have been published in the journal Current Biology.