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February 2012: This mother scorpion Hottentotta sp., carrying an astoundingly large number of its pale-coloured young on its back, is the product of over 400 million years of evolution. Its ancestors actually had gills and lived as bottom dwellers in shallow ancient seas. Related to spiders (both have eight legs), all scorpions give birth to live young and mothers will care for their defenseless offspring till they can fend for themselves. Incredible creatures, they are found virtually across the globe, largely in the tropics (not in very cold places, though they can actually survive freezing temperatures of -31 degrees Celsius). Scientists are studying scorpions to find out more about their ability to resist radiation (an asset that humans should have first evolved before flirting with death-dealing nuclear reactors!). This makes scorpions relatively less susceptible to mutation, which accounts for their physiology remaining unchanged for such a long time. A huge survival asset is their metabolism, which allows them to subsist for as long as three years without food and perhaps as long as a year without water! Some species may live as long as 25 years. The pincers (largely hidden in this image by the little ones) are used to grab and crush prey, primarily insects, which will be paralysed by the ever-poised stingers. Sensory setae known as ‘trichobothria' and chemo-sensory pectinal teeth help them locate prey at night when they emerge to hunt. They have survived for over 400 million years and will probably survive us too!
Zeeshan A. Mirza, Sanctuary Asia, Vol XXXII No. 1, February 2012
