[Image Gallery: Magnificent Mantis Shrimp] "What we did that was novel was to look at how that behavior is used in the resolution of contests," Green said. "And describing it as 'telson sparring ...

The mantis shrimp’s secret is its tail appendage, called a telson. Engineers have now discovered what allows the telson to absorb the blows of its feisty self, with the goal of applying these lessons ...

Patrick Green Previous studies had isolated the tail's curl – or telson coil – as key to surviving 'friendly fire' from an aggressive and territorial mantis shrimp, but this latest research ...

After crunching the numbers, Green found that incorporating this telson coil behavior enables mantis shrimp to dissipate more energy than their armor can absorb based on its material properties ...

Mantis shrimp punches, the fastest in the animal ... they deliver sequential blows to each other’s tail-plate, or telson. These structures are heavily armored, with many microscopic bumps ...

Instead of punching its sparring partner right in the face, the mantis shrimp will curl its tail forward, allowing its opponent to strike a special plate on their tail called a telson. This acts ...

A mantis shrimp curls a shield-like segment on its tail, called a telson, to protect itself against blows from a rival mantis shrimp's powerful dactyl club. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!

[Image Gallery: Magnificent Mantis Shrimp] "What we did that was novel was to look at how that behavior is used in the resolution of contests," Green said. "And describing it as 'telson sparring ...

The mantis shrimp's secret is its tail appendage, called a telson. Engineers have now discovered what allows the telson to absorb the blows of its feisty self, with the goal of applying these ...