The Giant Palm Thief
The coconut crab is a terrestrial hermit crab across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. 1 kg with a leg span of 90 cm. Calcium carbonate makes a stubborn tenant.
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The coconut crab is a terrestrial hermit crab across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Adults weigh up to 4.1 kg with a leg span of 90 cm. Calcium carbonate makes a stubborn tenant.
Juveniles use empty gastropod shells. Adolescents switch to broken coconut shells until abdomens harden.
Coconut crab breathes using special lung-like organs.
Branchiostegal lungs absorb oxygen from air. Adults drown if immersed over an hour. They moisten the lungs with wet legs.
Shorter, blunter aesthetascs detect smells like rotting meat and bananas. This evolved convergently with insects.
Females glue fertilized eggs under abdomens for months before releasing larvae at dusk. Maturity arrives around 5 years. She eats the empty cases within days.