When you’ve got a tough exterior, there’s only one way to grow: Shed your skin
Arthropods, the most abundant group of animals on Earth, all possess a hard outer covering called an exoskeleton, which protects them from predators and supports their bodies. From a crab’s shell to a
’s shiny back, exoskeletons come in a many shapes and sizes, but most are made of the same fibrous material: chitin., a process known as ecdysis. The outer layer of the exoskeleton, the cuticle, and the layer beneath, the epidermis. The animal then takes in a lot of air, which shifts fluid around its body to crack a suture, a weakened area on the exoskeleton.
Cockroaches, for instance, “split right down the middle of their backs” and “pop out maybe in 20 minutes or less,” says are vulnerable to predators until their exoskeleton hardens. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Aquatic crustaceans such as crabs take in water, which puts pressure on the seam running around their bodies. This pushes them of their old shells, like letters emerging from form-fitting envelopes.
Because crustaceans molt in one piece, “you can find perfect little empty skins of all sizes of crabs and horseshoe crabs, for example, scattered along a beach,”and scorpions, have less flexibility, so “they pop their heads off, and then pull everything out of that hole,” Shufran says.It’s only in old cartoons that turtles ever come out of their shells.
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