2014-02-01 17:11:40 +01:00
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---
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title: Mantis Shrimp
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2019-06-23 22:38:17 +02:00
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date: 2011-08-09
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2014-02-01 17:11:40 +01:00
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---
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## All glory to the mantis shrimp
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The mantis shrimp is the best animal on earth, period (and it comes in multiple colors, yay).
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When something is nicknamed "thumb splitter" and has its own order in the scientific classification, you know this is getting serious.
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But what is really marvelous about this shrimp is its claws.
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They use them to strike with the "elbow" with an acceleration of 10,400 g (~about the acceleration of a .22 calibre bullet).
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> Because they strike so rapidly, they generate cavitation bubbles between the appendage and the striking
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> surface. The collapse of these cavitation bubbles produces measurable forces on their prey in addition
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> to the instantaneous forces of 1,500 newtons that are caused by the impact of the appendage against the
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> striking surface, which means that the prey is hit twice by a single strike; first by the claw and then
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> by the collapsing cavitation bubbles that immediately follow. Even if the initial strike misses the
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> prey, the resulting shock wave can be enough to kill or stun the prey.
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>
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>-- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp#Classification_and_the_claw)
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That's not all, they also possess the best eyesight in animal kingdom.
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Each eye has trinocular vision, depth perception, can see polarized light and hyperspectral color vision.
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And they are not afraid to use their features as these creatures are quite aggressive.
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Try to keep them inside a tank and they'll likely eat everything inside before breaking free.
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Badass animal who doesn't give a shit? Yup!
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### Everyone agrees this shrimp is awesome
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+ [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp)
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+ [TED Talk about the fastest animal, aka the mantis shrimp](http://www.ted.com/talks/sheila_patek_clocks_the_fastest_animals.html)
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+ [Even the Oatmeal agrees with me](http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp)
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+ [Crustacean deathmatches on Japanese TV](http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/02/11/crustacean-deathmatches-on-japanese-tv/)
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### Other crazy animals
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The [Axolotl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl) is pretty cool as well.
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