Hermit Crabs Line Up By Size to Exchange Shells

Get in line.

D-brief
By Carl Engelking
Mar 9, 2015 10:08 PMApr 26, 2020 9:40 PM
Hermit Crab - Shutterstock
(Credit: gillmar/Shutterstock)

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Anyone with an older brother or sister knows that clothes “shopping” often meant begrudgingly sifting through hand-me-downs rather than perusing the latest fashions at the mall. But for hermit crabs, the hand-me-down system isn't second-best, it's a matter of life and death. And as a new clip from the BBC show Life Story shows, the swapping process is remarkably orderly.

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