Forgot to mention: agreed that there is a degree of intelligence in non-human species. However, there is no evidence that there has ever been a non-human species on earth with enough intelligence to understand the natural processes that led to the development of the different species. It would require more intelligence than appears to be present in an octopus to intentionally modify the course of evolution to suit the purposes of the octopus, or at least so it would seem. I am not ruling out completely any of what you say. I just think that there needs to be evidence presented for it in order to cause scientists to modify existing theories. (BTW: Thank you for an intelligent debate free from insults and name calling. It's sad, but that's a rare thing to find on these threads.)
Definitely my pleasure. It's a fun discussion, and can be so because my own religious beliefs are not dependent on the truth or falsity of the theory of evolution. (IMHO, much of the antipathy on either side of the debate stems from fears on one or the other side that God may actually, or may not actually, exist, which explains the often strident either/or tone.)
I freely admit that I do have a strong religious perspective, and that does, of course, cause me to look with less skepticism on the possibility of intelligent intervention. Still, I try not to "prove" God (a hopeless task), but find it more worthwhile to dig into the underlying assumptions of "the other side."