What Are Coconut Crabs? Amelia Earhart's Remains Likely Eaten By Killer Crabs

A theory about famed pilot Amelia Earhart's disappearance stating that her body was eaten by coconut crabs, a 3-foot-long arthropod with claws that can crack open a coconut, resurfaced after a recent viral video showed one of the crabs — found where Earhart went missing — eating a live seagull.

Earhart, who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was flying from New Guinea on July 2, 1937, for Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean when her plane vanished somewhere. Her disappearance remains a mystery till date.

Since Earhart went missing, several theories have made the rounds, with the latest one blaming coconut crabs for eating the pilot's remains after her plane crash-landed on Nikumaroro, or Gardner Island. This is not the first time coconut crabs have been linked to Earhart's disappearance.

British colonial officer Gerard Gallagher, who in 1940 mentioned about the discovery of a skeleton with measurements that matched Earhart's description, said in a report in 2014 coconut crabs likely hid portions of Earhart's remains.

"All small bones have been removed by giant coconut crabs which have also damaged larger ones. Difficult to estimate age bones owing to activities of crabs but am quite certain they are not less than four years old and probably much older," Gallagher said, at the time.

Coconut crabs, believed to be the biggest arthropods, have a bite that is comparable to the bite force of the lion or tiger.

Describing the viral video, Dartmouth College biologist Mark Laidre, who was in the Chagos Archipelago to study coconut crabs, said, "The crab slowly climbed up and grabbed the booby's wing with its claw, breaking the bone and causing the booby to fall to the ground, where it was unable to fly. … The crab then approached the bird, grabbing and breaking its other wing. The booby struggled and pecked at the crab, but the crab retained its grip with both claws, kicking at the bird with its ambulatory legs."

Some of the theories surrounding Earhart's disappearance claimed she was captured by the Japanese and had lived on Nikumaroro in the western Pacific Ocean where she is believed to have landed.

In July, History Channel debuted a TV special called “Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence,” featuring a newly discovered photo showing Earhart just after she disappeared. The channel revealed experts had found an old photo labeled "Jaluit Atoll", showing figures on a dock they believed to be Earhart and Fred Noonan, her partner with whom she went on her journey to travel around the globe.