Saturday 3 May 2014

Coconut Crab




Yum! 

The coconut crab has 10 legs and can have a body length of 40cm and weight up to 5kg.


The diet of a coconut crab consists primarily of fleshy fruits, nuts, seeds and on the pith of fallen trees. However as they are omnivores, they will consume other organic materials such as tortoise hatchlings and dead animals.They have been observed to prey upon crabs, and scavenge on the carcasses of other coconut crabs. During a tagging experiment, one coconut crab was observed killing and eating a Polynesian rat. Coconut crabs may be responsible for the disappearance of Amelia Earhart's remains, consuming them after her death and hoarding her skeletal remnants in their burrows.

The coconut crab can take a coconut from the ground and cut it to a husk nut, take it with its claw, climb up a tree 10m high and drop the husk nut, to access the content inside. They often descend from the trees by falling, and can survive a fall of at least 5m unhurt. Coconut crabs cut holes into coconuts with their strong claws and eat the contents, although it can take several days before the coconut is opened.

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