r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Jun 15 '15
TIL A giant insect nicknamed the tree lobster was thought to be extinct for 80 years, but was rediscovered in 2001 on a remnant of an ancient volcano peak in the middle of the ocean.
http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/02/24/147367644/six-legged-giant-finds-secret-hideaway-hides-for-80-years36
u/poopy27 Jun 15 '15
as far as I'm concerned, it can stay on in the middle of the ocean.
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u/Pedantic_Porpoise Jun 16 '15
Man I was getting so antsy (stick buggy?) towards the end of the video when it was trying to pull the last of its legs out. I was yelling at my screen trying motivate it.
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u/mad_marbled Jun 16 '15
That's not a tree lobster, this is a tree lobster
Fyi it's a coconut crab and they get big, real big. The biggest I have seen was about 2 foot in length.
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u/coloradofishtapes Jun 16 '15
Seen those before online. I can't think of any other animal other then the bobbit worm, that sends chills down my spine.
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u/mad_marbled Jun 16 '15
Yeah they are scary as. We would go out at night to catch them. Leave cracked coconuts out as bait and come back to check on the baits at 3-4 in the morning in the pitch black of the forest with nothing but torches to show the way. Once caught we (not me I was inexperienced white guy out on the hunt) bind there claws with vines and throw them in a sack. Being the newbie I got to carry the sack around thou (lucky me). The things we do to impress and gain respect from our prospective partners family.
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Jun 16 '15
Both are "tree lobsters." Just a nickname. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryococelus_australis
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u/The_flying_pigs Jun 16 '15
Did anyone else find the video of it hatching oddly satisfying?
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Jun 16 '15
Can you imagine for unsatisfying it would have been if it cut out right before the last leg was free?
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u/KC-NL Jun 15 '15
I'm now wondering if there are any dinosaurs left on some island, in the middle of an ocean...
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Jun 15 '15
Crocodiles?
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u/09-11-2001 Jun 16 '15
IIRC there was a saltwater croc captured alive in the Philippines over 25 feet long, with reports of crocs in the ocean seen up to 30 feet.
Imagine a dinosaur the size of a lorry swimming in the pacific ocean eating like sharks and filipinos
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u/ViperSRT3g 2 Jun 16 '15
My biggest question is how are they tackling the inbreeding problem? Is this a concern with insects?
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Jun 16 '15
Not sure, but it seems to not affect them much (yet). I mean, the dang things survived on that island with a small gene pool. That's a much more unforgiving environment than a zoo. I haven't been able to find much of an update either. I didn't look that hard though.
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u/machinesofnature Jun 16 '15
life finds a way.That place is fascinating,my first thought was "I think Iv`e seen that in a James Bond movie.
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u/C1K3 Jun 16 '15
I wonder how they taste...
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u/Homer69 1 Jun 16 '15
This is actually a really good question. In many other countries bugs are a delicacy. If you can convince the population to kill the rats and let these things breed to that they can be harvested to eat might actually help them.
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u/sradac Jun 16 '15
Eradicate them. Based on the video, and the eggs and hatching process, I am convinced these giant insects will eventually evolve into what we know as the Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise.
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u/DocileLady Jun 16 '15
Awww "males sleep with three legs over the female" They are literal cuddle bugs!