JAKARTA – The three-eyed animal appeared in the late July rainy season in northern Arizona, United States. “One can clearly see that this field could have been used as a water reservoir 900 years ago. Wildlife still comes and drinks from here,” wrote Lauren Carter, Lead Interpretation Ranger Wupatki National Monument, as quoted by Live Science, Friday (8/10/2011). 2021).
When the water can last long enough in the pond, the tadpoles start arriving. Carter thinks this makes sense, as toads can emerge from their burrows to lay eggs when they become aware of the conditions conducive to raising young. Carter decided to check it himself. As it turned out, what he found was much more interesting. Not only tadpoles that are there, there are also other creatures.
“We kept getting reports of tadpoles in the ancient field pond. I checked directly there, scooped up the creatures with my hands without expecting anything. Then I saw a strange animal, what is it? I don’t know,” he said.
The creature in his hand looks like a fossil, is pink in color, is shaped like a horseshoe crab or an Indonesian horseshoe crab, and has three eyes. Carter soon realized that they were Triops, also known as ‘tadpole shrimp’ or ‘dinosaur shrimp’. Triops means ‘three eyes’ in Greek.
Citing Detik, this finding was posted on the Wupatki National Monument Facebook page. In his post it is said that the tadpole shrimp creatures, also known as Triops, are not technically tadpoles or shrimp, but they are crustaceans.
“Triops is a genus of small crustaceans in the order Notostraca. They live in spring ponds in Africa, Australia, Asia, South America, Europe, and parts of North America. They are sometimes called living fossils because their outward appearance has not changed much since the Triassic period .
Crustaceans can live in such fusing conditions because they have very special adaptations that allow their eggs to survive in dry places for long periods of time. These tiny horseshoe crabs appear to be lying around waiting until the puddle of water is long enough for the eggs to hatch.
Then, they devour themselves, grow to maturity in just a week, reproduce, and lay more eggs to repeat the cycle. They also serve as food for birds such as nighthawks that live around monuments. “Triops is just another example of how even under the toughest conditions, life finds its way,” Carter said. (E-4)
News Source: RRI.
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