Despite their name, mantis shrimp are not true shrimp but a type of stomatopod: a relative of crabs and lobsters that has been on Earth for over 400 million years. There are more than 400 different ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif.-- Smart boxers bind their hands with strips of cloth to avoid injury when they pack a punch. Millions of years ago, the "smasher" mantis shrimp, one of nature's feistiest predators, ...

The mantis shrimp comes equipped with its own weapons. It has claws that look like permanently clenched fists that are known as dactyl clubs. But when it smashes the shells of its prey, these fists ...

Mantis shrimp withstand repeated high-impact forces without structural damage. Researchers discovered the shrimp's clubs feature a protective pattern that controls how stress waves travel through its ...

Peacock mantis shrimp are one of the larger mantis shrimp species, measuring 1.2 to 7.1 inches in length. Peacock mantis shrimp get their name from their kaleidoscope shell, like a peacock’s tail, and ...

Texas is home to some of the creepiest, crawliest, and otherwise oddest animals on the planet. We introduce you to them in What in Tarnation?!, an occasional series. Before he became a Gulf Coast ...