Invertebrates

[Images & Video] Watch As A Giant Land Crab Attacks And Eats A Bird…No I’m Not Kidding

Published on July 1, 2018

Unless you saw it with your own eyes, would you believe if I told you that there is a species of crab SO BIG, that it could attack and EAT a fully grown sea bird ? No, I’m not joking. The coconut crab is not just large, it’s freakishly large.

Coconut crabs are the largest land invertebrates, reaching sizes of over 3 feet in leg span and a weight of up to 9 lbs and have a lifespan of 60 years. Along with eating their namesake, coconuts, the crabs have been observed catching bigger prey like rats and birds, as well as fruits and nuts.

Like other crabs, hatchling coconut crabs begin their lives floating freely at sea. After about a month of eating and growing, they find a snail shell and move in. The little coconut crabs carry this mobile home as they begin to transition to a land-based life.

A seashell is a nice, protected place to live, but it has its drawbacks. As a crab gets bigger, its shell gets tighter—like an old pair of shoes on a kid who’s growing fast. The crab needs to find a bigger shell and make a quick switch. And that larger home will be heavier to tote around.

So, after a year or so of inhabiting shells, the coconut crab makes a major lifestyle change. It crawls out and hardens the parts of its body that were once protected by the shell by regrowing layers of calcium-based tissues, a process called recalcification. Without its old home, it’s free of size constraints. Now, unlike other hermit crabs, it can become enormous.