Mantis may have swiftest kick in the animal kingdom

[Curtswearing]

This article is a little dated but I thought I would share.

With the help of a BBC camera crew and the loan of a high-speed video camera, University of California, Berkeley, scientists have recorded the swiftest kick, and perhaps most brutal attack, of any predator. The shrimp flail their club-shaped front leg at peak speeds of 23 meters per second to shatter the hard shells of their prey.

the blow yields a tremendous amount of force - well over a hundred times the mantis shrimp's body weight.

After research with this high-speed camera, it turns out that a smasher-type mantis doesn't strictly use muscles to strike. There is a saddle like structure in the exoskeleton that acts like a spring.

Here's the whole article. Mantis shrimp may have swiftest kick in the animal kingdom

 

[NaH2O]

Awesome information, Curt. I find stomatopods to be absolutely fascinating.

Here is a link to Stomatopod Strike Mechanics. A brief explanation of the mechanism is a cool model of how the strike works. I believe the video in Curt's link is a much better strike, but in this link you can slow the strike down 833X...pretty interesting to say the least. I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a stomatopod strike.

 

[MikeS]

:shock: I saw a show on Discovery about them awhile back....they claimed that the mantis can deliver a blow almost equally as powefull as a .22 round!!! :shock:

MikeS

 

[iamjosh]

good read, thanks.

 

[Witfull]

:shock: I saw a show on Discovery about them awhile back....they claimed that the mantis can deliver a blow almost equally as powefull as a .22 round!!! :shock:

MikeS

I'll put my Beretta up against any Mantis,,,i was so tempted to shoot one once...

 

[Ed Hahn]

I have to admit Curt that is a neat Banner you made with a Mantis staring at you..

 

[Curtswearing]

Thanks. However, Nautilus made the banner for me. He also made one or two of Reef Frontiers banners.

 

[mojoreef]

I'll put my Beretta up against any Mantis

Oh man I now know why I like you so much Dave


Mike

 

[szidls]

Quote:
I'll put my Beretta up against any Mantis

Oh man I now know why I like you so much Dave


Mike

Hey Mike,
Do ya have visions of blapping a Clown Tang? haha