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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

R U into Horseshoe Crabs?

We're very excited about the new plastic horseshoe crab in Tapir and Friends online store. It's 6 1/2 inches long and the underside is as realistic as the top! Come take a look at our plastic horseshow crab here.

For something a little more elegant, try a horseshoe crab pin cast in pewter and painted by hand in the state of Washington.

Lots of people are fascinated by horseshoe crabs. They are so ancient and cool-looking, such unusual and interesting animals! They've even been in the news recently. PBS starts it's story about horseshoe crabs this way: "With its armored shell, ancient anatomy, and 350-million-year lineage, the horseshoe crab almost seems too inconspicuous to stir up controversy." Read the rest of the story here!


This engaging, realistic-looking plastic horseshoe crab replica is almost 6 1/2 inches long from nose to tail. It is made of solid hard plastic with a 4 inch body, but flexible around the edges and has a flexible tail. It has small distinct eyes. Our miniature horseshoe crab has a kindly demeanor and doesn't bite. This horseshoe crab replica makes a nice pet, a gift or fits into a diorama. Check out our other crab toys and gifts.

About Horseshoe Crabs

The horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) is a marine animal more closely related to spiders than to crabs. It is found mainly in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico. The horseshoe crab is a living fossil with its closest relatives living 230 million years ago, the now extinct trilobites. Horseshoe crabs have three main parts to the body: the head region, known as the 'prosoma', the abdominal region or 'opisthosoma', and the spine-like tail or 'telson'. The carapace or shell is shaped like a horseshoe, and is greenish grey to dark brown in color. Many other marine creatures such as anemonies live on the horseshoe crab's shell and have a symbiotic relationship with the crab, which looks fierce but is quite a harmless, gentle animal.

Do YOU like horseshoe crabs? Leave us a comment!

1 comment:

  1. I remember seeing these as a kid growing up near the beach. Such strange and cool animals! Of course, one of my favorite extinct animals is the trilobite, so that makes these even better!

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you think. What's YOUR favorite animal?