Photo: Auscape
If you ever find yourself hanging out in the tropical Indian or Pacific oceans for some reason, it’s probably best you keep an eye out of coconut crabs. And why is that? Well, that’s because they look like this:
coconut crabs are truly my favorite alien pic.twitter.com/OQylSW1MNG
— Rachel Whitehurst (@RachLWhitehurst) November 1, 2017
Why, God?
This crab, also known as robber crabs, are in the news after a video of one killing a seagull in a gruesome way has gone viral. Let me first tell you that these creatures can weight up to 8.8 pounds, as much as a house cat. And they can grow as big as 3 feet in length, which makes them the largest invertebrates – animals without backbones – on land. Coconut crabs are also known for their tree-climbing abilities and taste for coconuts, as they can crack one open with their claws. Then again, they are also into seagulls apparently judging by the video below.
One man, Mark Laidre of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire recently visited the Chagos Archipelago, a remote series of atolls in the Indian Ocean and ran into this:
For the first time, a giant coconut crab has been seen stalking, killing and devouring a seabird https://t.co/beCiJicrO9 pic.twitter.com/DUjbW2vhq0
— New Scientist (@newscientist) November 13, 2017
Holy hell. The video is below, but just a heads up that it’s kind of brutal to watch.
According to Laidre, this crab saw a seagull sleeping in a tree so he climbed the tree, pinched it, broke a bone in the bird’s wing and dragged it to the bottom. Pretty damn ruthless. And Twitter is obviously not a fan of this crab at all.
We have been warned…..the coconut crab uprising is drawing near……..
— Khaotixkhaos (@scourge2099) November 13, 2017
Horrifying
— Monique (@mochalattachilz) November 10, 2017
Crabs on a plane….
— Farscape tragic (@mekanatrix) November 13, 2017
WHAT THE F U C K
— nora (@nora_hasler) November 1, 2017
I’d never believe that this can occur.
— [ʌntʰrʌ`ni:g] (@tsragravorogh) November 13, 2017
Dropped from a spaceship
— Payton (@Trumpian7) September 10, 2017
Honestly, when I see this, I feel like someone should write a story where people ride a (larger) version of these into battle.
— C. N. R. Shiotsuki (@lennan6) August 25, 2017
Oh, they’ve also been known to eat kittens.
— Jay Kristoff (@misterkristoff) August 25, 2017
Guard your kittens!
h/t New Scientist
