Yes. It’s that powerful.
And it’s been this powerful for 80 million years, scientists say. A study by researchers at Duke University reveals one key feature of how these powerful weapons evolved a stunning array of shapes, ranging from spiny, barbed spears to hatchets and hammers and yet still managed to pack that knockout punch, Phys.org reports.
Duke University researchers Philip Anderson and Sheila Patek studied almost 200 mantis shrimp specimens from three dozen species.
Equipped with a powerful system of biological springs, latches, and levers that power their lightning-fast strikes, mantis shrimp can do much more damage than would be possible with just muscle power alone, Science World Report says.
So the scientists decided to get a better look at how mantis shrimps do what they do, by taking careful measurements and calculating each specimen’s ability to smack the heck out of, er… transmit a muscular force to the crucial part of the claw that swings out to shatter or spear their prey. This mechanical property is known as kinematic transmission.
“This research sheds new light on how these amazing movements evolved,” Anderson said in a statement released by Duke University.
This suggests that mantis shrimp claws could evolve so many shapes because their mechanical properties tend to be more affected by changes in some parts than in others, in a pattern the researchers call “mechanical sensitivity.”
The study results appeared in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
These small pugilists also have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, and contain millions of light-sensitive cells, the National Aquarium reports. Their eyes contain 16 color-receptive cones (we only have three — poor us), and the peacock mantis shrimp can detect up to ten times more color than a human, and this includes ultraviolet light. It can also move each eye independently and uses this nifty trick to avoid predators and track down prey.
With such wonderful and amazing evolutionary adaptation the mantis shrimp will hopefully be around for millions more years to come.
