WEBVTT - From the Vault: Christmas Island Crabs, Part 2 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:07.920 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.600 is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. In it's Saturday. 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:12.639 Time to go into the Old Vault, this time for 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.000 part two of the episode we ran last Saturday. This 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.840 originally aired December. This is our Christmas Island Crabs Special 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.200 Part two. That's right. Yeah, these were really fun to 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.640 put together. And then also it was fun because afterwards 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.560 we heard from listeners who who had lived on Christmas 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.400 Island had seen these some of these marvelous creatures firsthand, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.199 so that that was delightful. And hopefully we'll hear all 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:39.479 news stories with re airing these. Uh. This episode was 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:44.480 originally titled What Christmas Island Crabs Part two? Colon Decadecca 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.760 Pod y'all, I believe it was so hold still while 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:54.080 the claw closes around you. Welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:54.120 --> 0:01:03.160 your Mind from how Stuffworks dot Com. Hey, welcome to 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.240 Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:08.960 and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Giant Crabs time. That's right. 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:13.720 We are continuing our exploration of Christmas Island. And if 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.160 you would if you're if you're asking yourself white guys, 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:18.680 where's Christmas Island? What are you talking about? Well, then 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:20.000 that means you need to go back and listen to 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.920 the episode that published right before this one, because that 0:01:22.920 --> 0:01:26.479 one will explain where Christmas Island is, what its whole 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.200 deal is, what the human history happens to be concerning 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:34.480 Christmas Island, and we go in depth about the red 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:39.280 Crab of Christmas Island, it's most singular and famous decabod inhabitant. 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.600 Now it has another decapod inhabitant that is by no 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.199 means limited to Christmas Island, certainly not to the extent 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:48.880 that the Christmas Island Red Crab is. And that other 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.680 decapod inhabitant is the coconut crab or the robber crab, 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.960 which is another glorious clawed crustacean in its own Now, 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.000 I have to admit, and though as we mentioned the 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:05.240 previous episode, there's virtually nothing Christmas about Christmas Island other 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.600 than the fact that the guy who named it happened 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.840 to name it on Christmas Day, I think you decided, 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.519 like back in June, like, well when it when it's 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.240 time for Christmas, we're just going to talk about crabs. Yeah, 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.320 it's enough it's enough of a reason for me and 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.720 I have to admit that I I keep um hearing 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:27.400 the Christmas song Christmas Island in my head. Is I'm 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.560 thinking about this easy even Oh well, it's it's uh. 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:32.799 I can't remember who recorded it originally, but I think 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.160 like Being Crosby did a version of it, Leon Redbone 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.960 did a fabulous version of it. Uh. And of course 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.600 it's just kind of this silly, cheesy song about weirdly 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:48.120 about like having some sort of an an ideal fantasy 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.040 Christmas on some distant island, but also some this whole 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.519 bit about how it's going to keep your woman from 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.400 straying from you. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't really notice this 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.120 part of it until I started reading the lyrics. But 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.440 it's like you'll never dre because it's gonna be Christmas 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:06.440 every day, um, which which is weird. But this reminds 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:10.560 me of another another Christmas song I listened to, made 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:12.880 on purpose to be creepy. There were a lot of 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.680 creepy Christmas songs, and there was there was I've been 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.680 listening to a lot of like R and B, like 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.919 old er R and B kind of Christmas songs and 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.079 plays on one of the Soma FM channels, and there 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:25.360 was one I was listening to the other day and 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.360 it had a similar thing that was like, baby, You're 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.160 never gonna leave me because when with me it's Christmas 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:33.040 every day. It seems like a very bold promise to 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.960 try and make to you know, your your prospective girlfriend 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.920 or wife. The nog never stops. We will have eggnog 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.120 every day. There will be a tree, a live Christmas 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:46.120 tree in the house every day. It's it's a high bar. 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:50.560 I have a live in Santa But it made me think, well, 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.440 what if Christmas Island was actually about Christmas Island? We 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:56.880 may end up cutting this. I don't know how to sound, 0:03:56.920 --> 0:03:59.600 but but I think it would go something like this. 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:04.520 How'd you like to deck the holes with the deck 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.600 of pods? How'd you like to see a crab so 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:14.160 big you'll worship it as a god? If you ever 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:21.440 spend Christmas on Christmas side and you will never sleep, 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:26.240 You'll probably weep when robber crabs come for you. How 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:31.600 would you like there's more? Don't manaverse? How would you 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.760 like to eat carry on like the robber crabs do? 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:41.000 How'd you like to see them snip baked coconut directly 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:47.680 in two. If you ever spend Christmas on Christmas Sidland, 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.360 you will never sleep. You'll probably weep when robber crabs 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:57.080 come for you. Can I applaud now, yes you can. Again. 0:04:57.160 --> 0:04:59.920 We may cut that, but hopefully it will become a standard. 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.120 What do you think is the longest period of unbroken 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.520 singing that has ever happened on this podcast before? Oh? 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.280 I don't know, probably from of when Julie Douglas was 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:13.040 one of the hosts. Oh did she sing? She she 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.919 she did have a knack for busting into show tunes. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:18.760 Well wait, I don't know if they were show tunes, 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.160 but she did have a knack for bursting into song. Well, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.480 I really appreciate that this art you've just shared with Robert, 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.760 and it raises so many interesting questions, like how big 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.360 would a crab have to be before you worshiped it 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.279 as a god? Well, if you look up a picture 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.640 of the robber crab or the coconut crab, specifically, if 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.400 it is next to a human being or on something 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.360 that you can you know, you know the size for 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.159 like a garbage can. Unfortunately, I gotta break your heart, Robert. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.800 There is a viral image you've probably seen of a 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:54.039 coconut crab or robber crab on a garbage can, And unfortunately, 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.560 in that image the garbage can is a smaller than 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.800 average garbage can. It's still a garbage can. To put 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:02.560 your getting a little bit of a skewed perspective. Okay, 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.440 well there I saw a picture of it, of one 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.360 of these crabs fixed to a tree next to Brian Cox, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.000 not the actor Brian Cox. Oh what a shame be 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.400 the science scientists and science communicator Brian Cox. And I 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.560 would say that it looks big enough in that in 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:20.280 that particular photo to worship. Oh these things are plenty big. Yeah, 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.400 I can see people worshiping. So okay, we we've mentioned 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.719 several times today we're gonna be talking about the coconut 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.160 crab or the robber crab. This is Burgess Latro and 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:34.200 it is the largest land dwelling arthropod on Earth. Though 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:38.880 technically not a true crab. They are deca pod crustaceans, 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.600 but not a member of the inver order bracky era, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.360 which is what true crabs are. But if you don't 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.960 tattle on us, we can call them crabs today, right right? 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:50.640 If hermit crabs are called crabs. I mean, they're not 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.160 technically crabs, but we call them crabs, coconut crabs, we 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.160 can call them crab loosely referred to as crabs, and 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.600 and may even in in some of the the more 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.240 scientific literature we're looking at here, they'll still just go 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:06.120 ahead and calm crabs. They notice. Yeah, So if it 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.280 is the largest land dwelling arthropod on Earth, how big 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.640 is that? Right? How big do you have to be? Well, 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.240 a standard adult robber crab is about one meter or 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.720 about forty inches measured from the tips of the legs. 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.120 They can weigh about four point five kilograms were almost 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.040 ten pounds, and that is a big arthropod to be 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.200 on land right there. They're not the largest arthropod ever, 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.320 or overall. The largest ever that we know about. It 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:36.600 was probably j Calopterus, which is this extinct genus of C. 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.040 Scorpion that probably got about two point five meters long. 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:45.840 These things were gigantic, terrifying, wonderful extinct creatures. The largest 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:49.239 today in terms of leg span is the Japanese spider crab, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.880 which can in extreme cases have a leg span of 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:56.320 almost four meters, but it's also kind of spidery with 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:59.240 like big skinny legs, so it's it depends on how 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.440 you count eyes. Yeah, Like those big spider craps, they 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.600 kind of look like they are the skeleton for a tent, right, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.880 It's like they're they're in a contest to get measured 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.240 biggest by leg span alone. So I guess it all 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.800 depends on how you're measuring. But being the largest land 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:20.560 dwelling arthropod, I think is something very special on its own, because, 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.880 as we've often discussed psychologically, I think to us, the 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:27.600 sea is still very much that other world where strange 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:31.720 and unfamiliar life forms are expected. They're okay, right, it's 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.560 okay with you that there are sharks in the sea, 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:36.480 but if there were sharks on land, it would not 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.040 be okay with you. And the same is true for 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:43.720 large crustaceans. When you see a meter long decapod walking 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.200 around in your front yard and you haven't grown up 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.520 around creatures like this, you may feel you've been transported 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.160 to an atomic age monster movie, like something is wrong, 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.120 you know. I realized that people who live close to 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.760 um to to the sea and are around craps, they 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.680 may be more used to finding the occasional crab indoors, 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.040 the occasional land crab walking around in their house. I 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.400 always still when it happens to me, like if on 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.559 vacation somewhere and a crab is in the house, it 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.400 is an exciting and special treat. And and I have 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.760 to say that when my wife and I went on 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:21.360 our honeymoon to Lapa, Mexico is a little island, so again, uh, 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.240 the kind of place where land crabs have a field day. 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.720 And indeed, our our our journey there seemed to time 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:34.040 nicely with this surge of tiny land crabs that were 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.080 just walking all over the place. And since we were 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.679 staying in this kind of hut type structure that was 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.240 right on the beach, during the night, crabs would be 0:09:42.320 --> 0:09:44.920 all over the floor to the to the point where 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.040 you had to be careful where you were stepping because 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.599 you might step on a crab if you're watching. And 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:51.760 you know, they can't actually climb up into bed with 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.120 you or anything. But it was still, uh, it was 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.840 quite a crazy environment to find myself in. Wait, how 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.719 did you prevent them from getting in bed with you? 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:01.840 But they just didn't. They didn't seem like they were 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.240 really climbers. The crab we're talking about here today, the 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.640 coconut crab again not a true crab, heck of a climber. 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.640 But these particular crabs, they I never saw them climb anything. 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.120 They would they would come in under the doors and 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.079 they would sort of come in through cracks in the 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.400 wall and then fall down onto the floor and then 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:21.760 keep crawling, but they never tried to make it up 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:25.400 the bed. What a shame. The same huts, I should 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.920 mention also some of them had lost some plastic screening 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.760 up around the top, which permitted fruit bats to come 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:36.160 in and eat fruit and poop onto into onto the 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.080 floor of the hut. But we didn't have to worry 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:41.800 about that in our Wow. Okay, okay, so back to 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:45.720 back to Bergus Latro. Now. The last time we talked, 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.520 we talked primarily about the Christmas Island red crab, which 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.240 is mostly just on Christmas Island and another small island group. 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:57.040 But the this this crab like animal, this decapod crustacean 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.839 we're talking about today, the king of crabs is not 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.880 just confined to Christmas Island, though it is very numerous 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.559 on Christmas Island. Yeah, they're found throughout the tropical islands 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:07.720 of the Pacific and Indian Ocean. But but Christmas Island 0:11:07.760 --> 0:11:11.720 has the largest population by far, and as I mentioned, 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:15.320 they are excellent climbers, mostly though, to escape the any 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.920 dangers or threats that they're not crazy about if they're 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:21.480 nowhere near a borough. Now here's a question, what is 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:26.160 the danger or threat to the world's largest terrestrial Arthur Pod. Well, 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:28.880 my understanding is that the major threat, of course is humans, 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:31.599 which we'll get into in a bit. Though on the 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.360 other side, we have to say that the Christmas Island 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.880 population of coconut crabs or robber crabs, it's also the 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:42.480 best protected population of of of robber crabs in the world. 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.480 So you know, it's Christmas Island as always, it's this 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.160 it's this mix of humans really messed that one up. 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.079 And at the same time there's some great examples of 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.000 humans really trying to get it right. Yeah. Well, we 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.400 will talk in a little bit about using them for 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:01.400 meat and for their oil. Um. But yeah, so so 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.640 how do they survive on Christmas Island specifically? Well, um, 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.200 we we mentioned in the last episode about the danger 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:12.160 that the automobiles pose as well as trains. Pose to 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:16.160 the smaller Christmas Island red crab. But according to the 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:20.000 Australian Department of Environment and Energy, between two thousand and 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.559 ten and two thousand twelve, some two thousand coconut crabs 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.720 died on the roads of Christmas Island. They kept track 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.160 of the fatalities and they actually posted fluorescent pink circles 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.000 by the roadside. Drew a mind motorist to drive carefully. Now. 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:39.120 I think we've mentioned that the coconut crabs are relatives 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.240 of the hermit crabs, and if you see them, they 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.439 almost kind of look like gigantic hermit crabs. But what 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.000 we know is that hermit crabs will claim shells that 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.480 they find in their environment and and inhabit them as protection. 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.439 Do uh do do we see anything like that in 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.599 the in the robber crab or the coconut crab. Not 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.600 in the adults. So the adults don't use shells at all, uh, 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:04.640 They're beyond that. Instead, the abdomen is is tucked partially 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:07.120 underneath the body and they have a series of hardened 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.240 plates that provide covering along with the bruskley tufts of 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.160 skin along the rest of the abdomen. On my own shell. Yeah, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.280 I mean, what would they even climb inside football helmets? 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:22.840 But Fate whispers to the warrior, the shell is needed. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.360 The warrior whispers back, I am the shell. What is 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.240 that from? No, it's some saying that's in. It's in 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.559 like one of the Mission Impossible movies. It's on T 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.680 shirts and stuff. It's one of those like no fear 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.319 T shirt slogans. It's on T shirts. You say, yeah, 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.040 I don't know where it originally. Are you saying it 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.680 should be in our T shirt shop accessible via stuff 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:43.199 to Blow your Mind dot com? No, I don't think so, 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.599 just throwing it out there. Okay, So, even though the 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.000 adults don't use the shells, juvenile coconut crabs do seem 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.680 to employ the shell method of hermit crabs for protection, 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.840 but the juveniles are hard to observe because they are 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.280 often burrowed. That's a similar to what we saw with 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:00.959 the red crabs of Christmas Island. Like the the the 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.280 younger crabs, the ones that have not reached adulthood yet, 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.160 they're going to try and just stay out of the 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:09.400 thick of it until they're they're they've reached the appropriate size, 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.559 and the adults Incidentally, they mold underground and special burrows, 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:18.400 so they'll they'll they'll just dig down into this kind 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.840 of spherical chamber and that's where they'll do all their 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.080 molting and then they'll come back up. Now, coconut crabs 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:25.560 are mostly sort of a deep blue in color, and 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.240 they tend to look kind of you see footage of 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.080 and they look kind of like brownish, but you'll see 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.440 kind of bits of blue. Sometimes there's a tinge of 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.360 red in places. It becomes kind of like a weird 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.480 off purple. Yeah. And then of course they have claws. 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.440 They have a large left claw a smaller right claw, 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:45.000 and it's kind of hard to pick up on the 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:47.560 size differential when you're just looking at them unless you 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.720 look closely I find. But then they have two pairs 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.360 of long walking legs and a smaller pair of appendages 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.920 that are used for mating and egg manipulation. Now these 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.440 are land crabs, so that do they have anything to 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.640 do with the water. Well, we see a some more 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.280 situation as with the the the red crabs that we 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.840 talked about in the last episode. So they have only 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.360 the stigial gills and they'll actually drown have left in 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:12.880 water for more than an hour, the guilt tissue is 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.840 given over to a highly vascular Uh what I often 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:21.320 I've seen described as long tissue with long in quotation marks. 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.560 But for for land lubber breathing. Yeah, these are land crabs. 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.040 These are the crabs of the forests. All right, let's 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:28.600 take a quick break and when we come back, we 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:35.800 will discuss Charles Darwin's encounters with the coconut crabs. Thank, alright, 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.880 we're back. So you know, Charles Darwin himself wrote about 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:41.680 coconut crabs in his eighteen thirty nine work The Voyage 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.840 of the Beagle. This was in his chapter on Keeling Island. 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.080 What was known as Keeling Island then, I think it's 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.480 also now known as the Cocos Islands or Territory, which 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.320 is another group of islands in the Indian Ocean. And 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:59.120 so Darwin's observations were interesting. He starts by writing, quote, 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:02.000 I have to four alluded to a crab which lives 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:05.400 on the coco nuts. It is very common. I love it. 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.000 He hyphenates cocoa nuts. It is very common on all 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.680 parts of the dry land and grows to a monstrous size. 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.760 It is closely allied or identical with the beer ghost Latro, 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.640 so he basically he's already talking about the same animal. Uh. 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.680 The front pair of legs terminate in very strong and 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.280 heavy pincers, and the last pair are fitted with others 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:30.320 weaker and much narrower. It would at first be thought 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:33.880 quite impossible for a crab to open a strong cocoa 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.640 nut covered with the husk, but Mr Leask assures me 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:41.480 that he has repeatedly seen this affected. The crab begins 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.200 by tearing the husk fiber by fiber, and always from 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.400 that end under which the three eye holes are situated. 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:52.160 When this is completed, the crab commences hammering with his 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.120 heavy claws on one of the eye holes till an 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.880 opening is made, Then, turning around its body, by the 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.880 aid of its past your ear and narrow pair of pincers, 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.560 it extracts the white albuminous substance. I think this is 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:09.280 as curious a case of instinct as I have ever 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:13.400 heard of, and likewise of adaptation and structure between two 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.040 objects apparently so remote from each other in the scheme 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.960 of nature, as a crab and a coconut tree. Maybe 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.359 I'm missing something, but I honestly don't see what he 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.960 thinks is so strange about that the crab is a 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.440 creature of the dark, infernal depth, and the coconut is 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.320 is the fruit of heaven. I don't know one is 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:34.280 one is high, the other low. I mean because one 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.119 of the things about it, when you look at a 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.840 coconut crab, I mean it kind of looks like a coconut. Yeah, yeah, 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.240 that is strange. I mean, I'm not saying like Darwin 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.879 is dense here, obviously, you know, his insights about nature 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:50.040 are usually pretty interesting, even when he's wrong. I'm not 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.520 I'm not seeing what's so strange about that. That seems 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:55.560 like a very natural kind of relationship. But I don't know, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.040 maybe we're just used to thinking post dar Winnie and 0:17:58.119 --> 0:17:59.920 thoughts about this kind of thing. And I'll have a 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:04.240 little more on coconut crabs eating coconuts a little later 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:07.240 on in the episode. Oh yes, yes, So he points 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.320 out a few other things. He says that the crab 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.200 is active in the daytime, but every night it goes 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.879 to the sea to moisten it skills. And this seems 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:17.600 contradicted by modern reports in which I've read that the 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:21.600 coconut crab is not exclusively nocturnal, but it likes nocturnal 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:23.879 activity sort of prefers it. Right, This is what I 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:25.639 read too, that it it will come out at night, 0:18:25.680 --> 0:18:27.840 but it also it will come out if it's a 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.040 cloudy day. And it also it's very I think, an 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.800 environmentally informed. So the coconut crab is living in an 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.600 area where humans or say dogs or whatever are going 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.240 to mess with it, that might impact how often it 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.440 comes out. But if they have free range, they're just 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.240 gonna do whatever. So yeah, it sounds like his report 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:49.080 could be wrong. Here. He says they live in burrows, 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.840 that they dig under the roots of trees, and that 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.440 they make beds in their burrows out of the fibers 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.320 of husks that they tear from coconuts. And I have 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:02.440 I have looked for modern evidence of that. I have 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.920 not found that anything about that. I didn't run across 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.400 it either. I certainly ran across observations that you will 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.440 find like shredded bits of coconut husk in areas where 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:17.160 the crabs live, but I think that is probably due 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.000 to what they do to coconuts and not any kind 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:25.239 of like nesting ritual. Yeah. Interesting, Uh, if anybody out 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:26.920 there knows of any evidence of that, we would like 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:31.440 to see it. Also Darwin, on eating the largest terrestrial arthropod, quote, 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:34.760 these crabs are very good to eat. Moreover, under the 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:38.320 tail of the larger ones there is a massive fat which, 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:41.600 when melted, sometimes yields as much as a court bottle 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:45.920 full of limpid oil. Now he relays reports that the 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:49.480 robber crabs climb up trees to get coconuts, but he 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.320 doubts this is true. Other reports say that they live 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:54.720 only on the nuts that have already fallen to the ground. 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.359 And uh. And he also says quote to show the 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.560 wonderful strength of the front pair of pincers, I may 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:05.040 mention that Captain Morrisby can find one in a strong 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:09.320 tin box which had held biscuits, the lid being secured 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:13.040 with wire, but the crab turned down the edges and escaped. 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.520 In turning down the edges, it actually punched many small 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:20.600 holes quite through the tin. So we must return to 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.639 the subject of these tin piercing claws in a bit now. 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.760 As a side note, I so I was trying to 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.439 find if there was any evidence of the coconut crabs 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:33.359 making husk beds in their in their nests, and I 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.240 kept I was googling things like do coconut crabs make 0:20:37.880 --> 0:20:41.720 uh nests of coconut husks or something? But every time 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:46.480 I typed do coconut crabs make Google wanted to autocomplete 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.399 do coconut crabs make good pets? What is wrong with 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:53.119 this world? Why is that what it's telling me to 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.679 look up? Yeah? I didn't. I did not research anything 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:59.320 about keeping them as pets, but it seems like it 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:01.800 would seem like a good idea. I mean, for one thing, 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.000 they're just a larger creature that seems like it needs 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:06.680 to roam around and live a fairly nomadic lifestyle. On 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.160 the other hand, there there are varieties of hermit crabs 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.240 that it seemed to be more established as pets um 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:16.440 not every species, but a few particular species they given 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:18.320 the tin box story, it seems like they might be 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:20.600 a little bit hard to confine. Yeah, and yeah, and 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:23.280 then the other thing too. When I first saw them, 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:26.200 the footage I foresaw of them in that that documentary 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:31.679 we talked about, they look like brown fly covered um 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:35.320 carrying gobblers. So I'm not sure to what extent that 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:37.320 you see that and you're like, yes, I want one 0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:40.200 of those in my house. Yeah, I mean they, like 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:43.720 many crabs, they are opportunistic omnivores. So even if they 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:47.840 do in a way specialize in coconuts, they also they 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.480 will eat carrying I think we already mentioned that, right. Yeah, 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:52.920 they are in too meet when they can get it, 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.400 even weird sources of meat you might not expect. In fact, 0:21:56.440 --> 0:21:58.840 there there are viral videos of them. I don't know 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:00.800 if this is common. Is like, this is probably not 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:04.760