#triops

girls when they get new shoes:

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TODAY'S FACT IS

Did you know that the Longtail Tadpole Shrimp (Triops Longicaudatus) is a small crustacean found throughout South America and north into much of the US? They look kinda like a horseshoe crab but much smaller and with two tail tips instead of one. Typically they reproduce asexually but sometimes there is sexual reproduction. Even less frequent (but frequent enough to note) individuals in some populations have the parts necessary to give and receive both male and female gametes. Their eggs are extremely resilient, being able to withstand flashfreezes and droughts, with the ability to wait in diapause for up to 20 years(!) before inviability.

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After heavy rains in the Arizona desert, a surprising phenomenon repeated itself at Wupatki National Monument: hundreds of Triops, prehistoric three-eyed crustaceans, emerged from eggs that had been dormant underground for years.

They were seen in 2021 and reappeared in 2023 after another monsoon. These “living dinosaurs” live only a few weeks, but their lineage dates back more than 350 million years. Scientists consider them a fascinating example of extreme adaptation.

Triops - triops cancriformis

LOOK AT THIS CHRICHUUR!!!

Aka tadpole shrimp!

The Paleo Party Guest of the day is the living fossil, the Triops!

They might actually be less ancient than originally expected but that doesn't stop these little arthropods from looking very ancient!

This sticker can be found in my Living Animals listing!