WEBVTT - Animalia Stupendium: The Mantis Shrimp

0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:08.080
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to blow your mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:16.960
<v Speaker 2>Welcome to Animalius Stupendium. My name is Agromandanes, wizard to

0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:21.079
<v Speaker 2>the Five Crowns? Who is it for now? Inventor of

0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:27.640
<v Speaker 2>the magic missile, entireless creature chronicler. However, mere monsters hold

0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:32.520
<v Speaker 2>no mystery for me these days. Dragons are drab, manticors

0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.839
<v Speaker 2>are ne. Instead, I turn my attention once more to

0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:42.360
<v Speaker 2>the strange fauna of a land called Earth. Travel with me,

0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:50.080
<v Speaker 2>gentle reader, as we consider the mighty mantis shrimp.

0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:54.280
<v Speaker 3>Common name mantis shrimp. Scientific classification, various species of the

0:00:54.400 --> 0:01:00.720
<v Speaker 3>order Stomatopod, frequency and range, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Size,

0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:08.040
<v Speaker 3>small diet, various gastroparts, crabs and mosques, treasure work eggs.

0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:10.640
<v Speaker 3>Challenge rating eleven.

0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:16.760
<v Speaker 2>How might I describe these tiny aquatic wonders so unlike

0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:22.200
<v Speaker 2>the boring merfork and hippocampi i'd study previously. Most specimens

0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.720
<v Speaker 2>are no longer than ten centimeters three point nine inches,

0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.520
<v Speaker 2>or roughly two lengths of a wizard's finger. It is,

0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:33.280
<v Speaker 2>of course, a burrow dwelling crustation with an elongated body,

0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.760
<v Speaker 2>stoved eyes, slender legs, and long antennae. Its appearance compares

0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:42.640
<v Speaker 2>favorably to other shrimp, though their front appendages resemble the

0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:47.760
<v Speaker 2>raptorial legs of the also excellent terrestrial insect predator, the

0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:53.440
<v Speaker 2>preying mantis its namesake ah. But the colors. The so

0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.120
<v Speaker 2>called peacock mantistrimp, for example, is so named because it

0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:02.080
<v Speaker 2>features bright shades of red, green, orange, and blue. Such

0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.320
<v Speaker 2>a creature would not seem out of place in the

0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:08.720
<v Speaker 2>chromatic realm, but its eyes are even more curious. What

0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:13.720
<v Speaker 2>colors do they see? While human eyes have only three

0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:18.840
<v Speaker 2>types of photoreceptor cells to process colors, mantishrimp boast between

0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:23.280
<v Speaker 2>twelve and sixteen. This has led to much speculation on

0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:28.120
<v Speaker 2>exactly what a mantishrimp sees when it beholds its aquatic world.

0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.960
<v Speaker 2>Might it in fact glimpse colors beyond the realm of

0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:37.919
<v Speaker 2>human senses. It's entirely possible, but researchers increasingly urge caution

0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:43.679
<v Speaker 2>on grand generalizations about how and what these curious creatures see.

0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.200
<v Speaker 2>Without access to a good polymorphs spell, human scientists are

0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:54.520
<v Speaker 2>largely in the dark. Many mysteries remain. Certainly, mantishrimp may

0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:59.840
<v Speaker 2>very well recognize subtle coloration differences in other mantishrimp predators

0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.480
<v Speaker 2>or choral environments. It's also possible that color perception is

0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:08.120
<v Speaker 2>just one part of an elaborate sensory network, and we

0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.560
<v Speaker 2>do it a vast disservice to put too much emphasis

0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:15.600
<v Speaker 2>on vision. Though this, of course is an understandable mistake

0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:20.919
<v Speaker 2>given that we are such sight dependent creatures. Researchers point

0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:24.799
<v Speaker 2>out that in experiments, some manti shrimps seem to depend

0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:29.760
<v Speaker 2>more on shape than colorization in judging various targets in

0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.720
<v Speaker 2>their environment. Still, what are those eyes capable of seeing?

0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.560
<v Speaker 2>And how might we claim these powers for our own

0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.880
<v Speaker 2>I have a notion in mind for a pair of

0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:47.680
<v Speaker 2>magical goggles. But scientists have explored ways they might technologically

0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:52.400
<v Speaker 2>mimic manta shrimp eyes to create improved optical sensors to

0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:57.040
<v Speaker 2>do everything from improved cell phone cameras to aid doctors

0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:01.440
<v Speaker 2>in the detection and removal of tumors. But let us

0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:08.640
<v Speaker 2>consider the weaponry of the mantis shrimp. The mantis shrimp

0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:13.240
<v Speaker 2>makes use of two attacks via its raptorial front appendages,

0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:18.000
<v Speaker 2>but the type of damage depends on the species. Some

0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:22.040
<v Speaker 2>mantis shrimp, including the peacock mantis shrimp pack a pair

0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:26.080
<v Speaker 2>of dactile clubs which strike with bullet like speeds to

0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.960
<v Speaker 2>kill or stung enemies by impact and or shock wave

0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:36.120
<v Speaker 2>bludgeoning damage. This paunch is actually fast enough to produce

0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:40.800
<v Speaker 2>superheated vapor bubbles in the surrounding waters, and these cavitation

0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:47.120
<v Speaker 2>forces may apply additional damage. The majority of mantis shrimp, however,

0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:52.400
<v Speaker 2>have barred frontal appendages to pierce their prey at lower

0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:56.680
<v Speaker 2>attack speeds, while the clubbing mantis shrimp depend on a

0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.320
<v Speaker 2>spring loaded mechanism. Spearing mantis shrimp are di I did

0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:05.440
<v Speaker 2>between spring loaded stabbers and active muscle movement stabbers. In

0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:10.520
<v Speaker 2>either case, the stab happy mantis shrimp varieties ambush their

0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:15.279
<v Speaker 2>prey from cover, while clubbers launch more of a full

0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:21.680
<v Speaker 2>frontal assault. There are more mysteries concerning the mantis shrimp

0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:25.680
<v Speaker 2>to consider, but for now I must retire my wizard's

0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:31.360
<v Speaker 2>quill and allow my familiars some respite. But I shall

0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.880
<v Speaker 2>return with even more wonders of the natural world.

0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:39.000
<v Speaker 3>Hi.

0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.680
<v Speaker 4>This is Robert Lamb. Thanks to the Wizard Acromandanese for

0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:46.520
<v Speaker 4>joining us in this episode. Sources for this episode included

0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:51.560
<v Speaker 4>the National Aquarium, the Great barrier refoundation. Michael Irvings How

0:05:51.600 --> 0:05:54.800
<v Speaker 4>the Deadly mantis shrimp keeps cracks in its club in

0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.120
<v Speaker 4>Czech published on New Atlas in twenty eighteen. Jessica Morrison's

0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.280
<v Speaker 4>Mantis shrimps supercolor vision debunked, published in Nature twenty fourteen,

0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:09.360
<v Speaker 4>Chroninetol's color vision in stomatopodcrustaceans published in Philosophical Transactions of

0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.520
<v Speaker 4>the Royal Society b twenty twenty two. And patel at

0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:16.440
<v Speaker 4>All's Mantis shrimp identify an object by its shape rather

0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.599
<v Speaker 4>than its color during visual recognition, published in the Journal

0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.719
<v Speaker 4>of Experimental Biology twenty twenty one. Thanks as always to

0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.720
<v Speaker 4>the excellent JJ Possway for producing this episode. If you

0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.760
<v Speaker 4>wish to contact Agromandanes with recommendations for future episodes, you

0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.600
<v Speaker 4>can send an email to contact at stuff Blow your

0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:38.000
<v Speaker 4>Mind dot com.

0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:41.080
<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.960
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.880
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.