How mantis shrimp evolved many shapes with same powerful punch

How mantis shrimp evolved many shapes with same powerful punch

03/03/2015 02:55 PM EST

The miniweight boxing title of the animal world belongs to the mantis shrimp, a cigar-sized crustacean whose front claws can deliver an explosive 60-mile-per-hour blow akin to a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun. A study of 80 million years of mantis shrimp evolution reveals how these fast weapons evolved their dizzying array of shapes--from spiny and barbed spears to hatchets and hammers--while still managing to pack their characteristic punch.

Full story at http://today.duke.edu/2015/02/shrimppunch

Source
Duke University

This is an NSF News From the Field item.