SICB Lessons: Mantis shrimp are AWESOME

this Odontodactylus scyllarus is just oozing awesomeness

OK, OK, this isn’t really something I needed to learn at a conference, but this fact is reinforced every time I go to SICB. That’s because I get to see presentations about these cool stomatopods from Sheila Patek and her lab. They look at the muscle physiology and mechanics of mantis shrimp raptorial appendages. You can read the 2010 abstract here and the 2011 abstract here. The main take-away message is that mantis shrimp are super fast and wicked strong!

[This is a long video, but really interesting if you have the time.]

I also learned that, within 8 genera, there are monogamous mantis shrimp (at least for one breeding season) from Molly Wright with UC Berkeley. So that means that we can stop worshipping those pesky penguins as our models for (eternal) love!

I sketched that guy, so sorry if it's not entirely accurate

(Feel free to use this card for your loved ones:

1. Download it and print it out on white card stock, trimming any edges

2. Fold on the grey dashed line

3. Write something meaningful inside like, "... at least for this year" or "I smashed some snails just for you! Love, Me" (that last one would be great if you have escargot on hand))

I linked up to the XLV Carnival of the Blue: