Horseshoe Crabs Are Older Than Dinosaurs, Trees, and Saturn's Rings
And they haven't changed in 230 million years. Horseshoe crabs first appeared 450 million years ago — 50 million years before sharks, 100 million years before trees
Horseshoe Crabs Are Older Than Dinosaurs, Trees, and Saturn's Rings
And they haven't changed in 230 million years.
Horseshoe crabs first appeared 450 million years ago — 50 million years before sharks, 100 million years before trees.
Since then, there have been five mass extinctions. The dinosaurs couldn't survive one. Horseshoe crabs survived all five.
They looked the same when dinosaurs walked the Earth. They looked the same when the first fish crawled onto land. They look the same right now.
But here's where it gets weird:
Their blood is blue. And it's worth up to $60,000 per gallon. Why? Horseshoe crab blood contains a chemical that detects bacterial contamination instantly. Every vaccine, every injectable drug, every medical implant you've ever received was tested using horseshoe crab blood.
There is no synthetic substitute. We harvest about 500,000 of them every year, drain 30% of their blood, and release them.
One more thing: They're not actually crabs. They're more closely related to spiders and scorpions.
450 million years. Five mass extinctions. Still here.
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