Thursday, March 20, 2008

I thought I was awake...

...but I seem to be having some sort of nightmare.

This photo is horrifying.
Are those creatures real? Someone please tell me they're not because seriously, I'm having coconut crab flashbacks.

Today I might even feel a bit thankful for all of our snow and ice since it tends to kill off any giant prehistoric looking creepy crawlies.

But you better believe that I'm going to give the shower a thorough once over before I get into it this morning, you never know what could be lurking in there.

17 comments:

Laura said...

i can't remember the species, but they're definitely real. they remind me of pillbugs with aquatic tails.

GeorgeH said...

They haven't been real for several hundred million years.

Those seem to be Photoshopped wonders

Weer'd Beard said...

Found him:
http://whozoo.org/Anlife2001/chelsy/clh_Bathynomus.htm

They're deep-sea critters so those are either replicas, or preserved specimines.

Fear not, your shower is safe!

breda said...

thank you Weer'd Beard!

Sebastian said...

The closest living relative to the trilobite that's still alive today is the horseshoe crab.

Anonymous said...

Yes, trilobites have been extinct for millions of years. However, they were also one of the longest-running species (families? Phyla?) on the planet when they were around. One of evolution's success stories actually. And they leave very pretty fossils.

Never occurred to me that they'd be so ugly/creepy in real life.

Anonymous said...

No, they're real.

http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02mexico/logs/oct13/oct13.html

Apparently, they even eat them, over in Asia. Yech.

NMM1AFan

BobG said...

I've got quite a few small fossilized ones I've found over the years.

Anonymous said...

giant isopods!
they were kinda an internet thing for a while there are a few lolisopod images on icanhascheezburger I believe

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

THESE are why I should be allowed to carry a semi-auto shotgun EVERYWHERE.

Coconut Crabs and Camel Spiders give me the Heebie Jeebies.

Now, Huge Trilobytes.

Heinlein didn't help.

Anonymous said...

Japanese Spider Crab. (I hope no one's posted this before.)

Fortunately, I don't think they ever leave the sea.

Less said...

I wonder if the crab claws off that giant crab are, um, tasty...

MMMmmmm... add garlic butter...

Crab steaks... mmmmm...

LBJ said...

They're not much for opening chips but they are useful in determining the age of rocks, particularly those deposited during the Cambrian and Ordovician periods.

That's about the last time they were seen.

I for one found a tarantula on my bed when I lived in the desert. . THAT kept me from sleeping for a while.

breda said...

Aiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee! Japanese spider crab!!!!

I may never leave the house again!

Anonymous said...

1- they are called "Giant Isopods", latin name 'Bathynomus giganteus'.

2- They are REAL and NOT extinct.

3- You don't see them much because they hang out at 2000 feet down.

4- Yes, people cook and eat them. Evidently they taste like crab.

5- Look them up by name on Wikipedia, or just do a Google image search for lots more Lovecraftian goodness.

DaveP.

EgregiousCharles said...

The pictures are of giant isopods, deep-sea creatures alive today, but the caption says trilobites, which have been extinct for hundreds of millions of years. In an example of convergent evolution, isopods look a lot like trilobites, despite not being very closely related.

Unknown said...

Well, EgCharles and DaveP have already explained most of what you need to know about Giant Isopods (Bathynomus). In general, while they look creepy, they're mostly scavengers (i.e. eat deritrius and other gunk on the sea floor). I know they eat them in Taiwan--which is not surprising, because most think that Isopods are just another kind of Lobster, like the Moreton Bay Bug.

All points considered, they're not dangerous partly because of how deep undersea they live, how slow they move, and the fact that they're functionally blind.

I will, however, agree with you being scared of Coconut Crabs. I mean, I've eaten some (they're delicious), but if I see a live one, I'd run my socks off--those claws are strong enough to rip a coconut to pieces, they're make short work of you--don't annoy them, they run pretty fast for their size.

Another anecdote: Coconut or Robber Crabs are actually related to Hermit Crabs.