Scientists discover the stupendous force (740 lbs.) of coconut crab’s claws, get pinched in process

The largest hermit crabs on the planet cannot help but attract speculation and curiosity. The Indo-Pacific creatures have been blamed, dubiously, for scampering off with Amelia Earhart’s bones. They are said to eat kittens. They go by many names: the robber crab, the palm thief, Birgus latro and, most popularly, the coconut crab.

The truth is that coconut crabs are immense — up to 18 inches long and nine pounds — and their oddities do not end with bodily superlatives. Even though female coconut crabs release their eggs into the sea, full-grown crabs are strict landlubbers. Their gills have evolved into spongy lung-like tissue that absorbs oxygen from the air. Unlike most hermit crabs, adult coconut crabs do not tuck soft posteriors into sea shells. As they age, their skin hardens into tough, pebbly sheathes, which they will molt as they grow (and then they consume the discarded exoskeleton). They like to climb trees.