Rolling with the punches: How mantis shrimp defend against high-speed strikes
https://news.ucsb.edu/2024/021466/rolling-punches-how-mantis-shrimp-defend-against-high-speed-strikes
Automated Summary
Mantis shrimp, recognized for their remarkable physical attributes, can deliver high-speed strikes and have sophisticated vision. A study led by ecologist Patrick Green at UC Santa Barbara focused on their defensive measures against competitive blows. The research reveals that the mantis shrimp's fighting stance absorbs an additional 20% shock, amplifying the exoskeleton's natural ability to absorb impact. Green found that the tail coiling behavior allows the mantis shrimp to dissipate more energy upon impact, from 69% to around 90%. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding behavior in analyzing animal morphology and its role in managing high-impact forces. Green intends to continue examining mantis shrimp armor and combat across various species, aiming to correlate behavior and morphology in these creatures.
The mantis shrimp episode of Octonauts is still one of my favorite all-time episodes of kids TV.
You might like this - ZeFrank's video on mantis shrimp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FEj9U-CJM
That was a great episode. They do a great job crafting stories around the featured creature. And now I have “creature report” playing in my head.
"accelerating on par with a 22-caliber bullet"
I suspect they don't literally mean to compare acceleration rates?
Googling provides all sorts of additional likely misreporting: same speed, same power, same energy.
Well good old Wikipedia gave a pretty straightforward answer of: an acceleration of 10,400 g (102,000 m/s2 or 335,000 ft/s2) and speeds of 23 m/s (83 km/h; 51 mph) from a standing start.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp#Claws
It’s an interesting article and I recommend reading it (it’s very short). However, it was disappointing to not have the slow motion video discussed in the article included. I followed a few links and found it:
Paper: https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/227/9/jeb247063/...
Video: https://movie.biologists.com/video/10.1242/jeb.247063/video-...