Horseshoe Crabs: 450 Million-Year-Old Living Fossils (Not Crabs!) #wildlife #animals.
Channel: WildWhiskers
Date: 2024-03-23

Unbelievable But True! Horseshoe crabs are prehistoric wonders - living fossils around for over 450 million years!  Discover their secrets:

Not Crabs! They're closer to spiders (arthropods) with 10 legs & pincers for feeding (worms, mollusks, crustaceans!)
Harmless Giants: Don't be scared! Their tails (telsons) aren't venomous, just for flipping themselves.
Upside-Down Swimmers: Watch them use their book gills for breathing & playful swimming!
Blue Blood Mystery: Their blood is blue due to hemocyanin (different from ours!).
Medical Heroes: Horseshoe crab blood is used to test medical equipment for bacterial contamination (keeps you safe!).
Egg-Laying Champions: A single female lays 4,000 eggs! Spawning rituals on beaches.
Conservation Crisis: These living fossils need our help! Threats include overharvesting, habitat loss, pollution.