Coconut Crabs' Awesome Pinching Force

Coconut crabs (Birgus latro) are the largest terrestrial crustaceans and are remarkably strong, able to lift nearly 30 kg (66 pounds). They use their prodigious claws to capture and manipulate food items with hard exteriors (including coconuts), as well as to fight other crabs and defend themselves.New research finally quantifies the pinching force of the coconut crab's claws, and finds it to exceed the bite force of most land mammals.Read the entire post at the PLOS Ecology Blog: Giant Coconut Crabs Pinch Harder Than Most Animals Bite.