Science Art: Mantis Shrimp by R.A. Lydekker.

The mantis shrimp, Stomatopoda, is one of the most terrifying sea creatures under three feet long. At least to me. They move exceptionally fast and have lots of spiky, sharp parts that are just long enough to do some serious damage before you even realize what’s happening. You can watch a TED video of them being one of the fastest animals in the world – fast enough to vaporize water until it glows. And they’re tough, too. Ahem: Although it happens rarely, some larger species of mantis shrimp are capable of breaking through aquarium glass with a single strike from this weapon, Wikipedia says.

Richard Lydekker, on the other hand, was somewhat less frightening. He was a British naturalist who created lots of lovely illustrations of strange creatures in the late 1800s – especially fossils from South Asia. He wrote a couple books, including a six-volume natural history encyclopedia and The Wild Animals of India, Burma, Malaya, and Tibet.

Tags: marine biology