WEBVTT - Did Giant Crabs Eat Amelia Earhart?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, there,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. We've just never been

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<v Speaker 1>able to let the whole Amelia Earhart thing go, not

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<v Speaker 1>just us here at how Stuff Works, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>population at large. This legendary pilot disappeared eighty years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're still looking for her remains and those of

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<v Speaker 1>her navigator, Fred Noonan. Just this year, in an expedition

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<v Speaker 1>involving forensic dogs led by the International Group for Historic

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<v Speaker 1>Aircraft Recovery, a k A Tiger was sent to the

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<v Speaker 1>island in the South Pacific where her plane is thought

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<v Speaker 1>to have crashed. The word on the proverbial street, however,

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<v Speaker 1>is that air Heart's remains were probably gobbled up by

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<v Speaker 1>coconut crabs scientific name Burgess Latro, and some of her

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<v Speaker 1>bones subsequently hauled off to their layers. Coconut crabs are

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<v Speaker 1>an oversized species of hermit crab. In fact, they're the

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<v Speaker 1>world's largest land dwelling arthropod. These monsters can weigh up

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<v Speaker 1>to nine pounds or four kims and normally eat coconuts, obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>but we'll also snack on other available fruits, nuts, and leaves.

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<v Speaker 1>They've also been known to enjoy a little meat from

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<v Speaker 1>time to time. Your average coconut crab probably wouldn't turn

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<v Speaker 1>its nose carapass up at a live rat, should the

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<v Speaker 1>roadent be unlucky enough to fall into its hole. The

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<v Speaker 1>crabs also have an excellent sense of smell for hunting

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<v Speaker 1>out their next meal. Depending on who you talk to,

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<v Speaker 1>the mystery around Earhart's disappearance can get really complicated, really quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>What is known is that on July two seven, during

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<v Speaker 1>their attempt to circumnavigate the Earth by plane, Earhart and

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<v Speaker 1>Noonan took off from Lay, New Guinea headed for Holland

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<v Speaker 1>Island in the South Pacific. Unfortunately, they never made it.

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<v Speaker 1>The last position they reported was near the Numanu Islands,

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<v Speaker 1>fifty miles that's about five hundred and sixty kilometers to

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<v Speaker 1>the southeast. In nineteen forty a British officer named Gerard

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<v Speaker 1>Gallagher found a partial human skeleton and a sextant box

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<v Speaker 1>on an island called Nikoma ro Ro in the Republic

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<v Speaker 1>of care body basically the exact location of her last transmission.

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<v Speaker 1>Other items age are freckle, ointment and the rubber sole

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<v Speaker 1>of a shoe were found later. The skeletal remains found

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<v Speaker 1>by Gallagher were somehow lost, but not before a physician

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<v Speaker 1>named David Hoodless took measurements. A group of doctors reviewed

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<v Speaker 1>the notes of both Gallagher and Hoodless and decided the

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<v Speaker 1>bones belonged to a tall female of European descent. It

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<v Speaker 1>was Gallagher who first speculated that the smaller bones of

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<v Speaker 1>the skeleton found on Nicomorro must have been hauled away

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<v Speaker 1>by coconut crabs. The animals are large and voracious, and

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<v Speaker 1>he seems to have gotten the idea from the locals,

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<v Speaker 1>who are basically like, Yeah, coconut crabs hallway human bones

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<v Speaker 1>all the time. However, a seven experiment run by Tiger

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<v Speaker 1>attempted to see if coconut crabs might haul away the

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<v Speaker 1>bones of a pig carcass, and although many of them

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<v Speaker 1>came to feed on it, no large bones were lugged

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<v Speaker 1>off into the forest. So though it's possible Amelia Earhart

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<v Speaker 1>was eaten and her bones dispersed by coconut crabs, nobody

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<v Speaker 1>really knows for now. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn

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<v Speaker 1>Shields and produced by Tristan McNeil. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other Cretaceous topics. Visit our home Planet

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<v Speaker 1>House to works dot com