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How to recognise a pistol shrimp in the fossil record

Alpheid shrimps, colloquially referred to as “pistol shrimps”, exhibit a remarkable anatomical adaptation. These tiny marine crustaceans use their enlarged and highly modified claw to ‘shoot’ at their prey – hence their name. It is astonishing that the snapping claw evolved at least 30 million years ago. How do we know that? Because the fossils tell us.

Fig. 1. Habitus (body form) of alpheid…