FYI Crabs Live in Trees

This funky looking crab is special for many reasons, not least because it has only been known to science since 2017.

Of course the tribes people who live in the mountainous forests of the Western Ghats in Southern India have known about it forever.

For a start it’s a completely arboreal species of crab - this means it lives its entire life up trees. Crabs need to keep their gills wet at all times to allow them to breathe, so this critter lives in and around hollows in trees where water gathers.

It has a specially evolved carapace, or shell, which allows it to store extra water to moisten its gills.

It’s also got really long legs to help it climb around the trees it calls home. Strangely for a crab, it uses its front claws to move forward.

Scientists have named this species Kani maranjandu, after the Kani tribal community where the crab lives.