Creator:

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-09-03T20:02:12.000Z

Views:

14,623

Video Title:

Claws Out: Fiddler Crabs Do Battle

Description:

Male fiddler crabs each have a single super-sized claw that they use as a weapon to threaten and fight other males and as beautiful adornment to attract females. Here, see a video of two male dancing fiddler crabs (Uca terpsichores) battle for territory. The male on the left has no burrow of his own—and no mate—while the male on the right tries to defend his own. The crabs with two small claws that look like they're twiddling their thumbs are females picking microscopic food from the sand. And what happens at the end? The battle-losing burrowless male follows a female into her burrow—not to mate, but to try to oust her and take over her home. Read more about the evolution of fiddler crabs' beautiful and powerful claws at this blog post on the Smithsonian Ocean Portal: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/design-beautiful-weapon Footage taken by Ana Endara at Culebra Beach in the Republic of Panama as part of John Christy's research into the evolution of fiddler crab claws with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Music by © 2008 Kevin MacLeod (Creative Commons 3.0) http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100494

Video Duration:

1 min 30 sec

YouTube Keywords:

panama BCI STRI Smithsonian Tropical Biology Biologia Ciencia Science Barro Colorado Punta Culebra

YouTube Category:

Science & Technology  Search this

Topic:

Tropics;Biology  Search this

See more by:

TheSmithsonianPanama

Data Source:

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

YouTube Channel:

TheSmithsonianPanama

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_vPIc8s-V8fM