Triops

JoshH

3 eyes, breathes through its feet, loops the loop, and described as a living fossil, also known as 'tadpole shrimp' this monster is an endangered species in the UK but I grew this one from a triops egg kit :-)
I used a borrowed SLR to take these pics and as expected they completely smashed the results from my PowershotA495 (first time using an SLR!) so I'm quite pleased with the results - C&C welcome :rofl My Triops' about 4 weeks old now at 2cm but they can grow up to 4 cm long!

Cropped a bit with some very minor editing :-)
- some more on my website

GOLDENORFE

strange looking creature:D

good shot through glass, try lens touching glass to get a head shot

Lord Vetinari

Good capture - don't think I've seen one of these before- an interesting crustacean ?
Brian V.

JoshH

Thanks Brian V. and GOLDENORFE

Yep, a very interesting crustacean :-) The main reason they're so amazing is that you can find (though incredibly rare) fossils of T. cancriformis (triops) almost identical to the ones found alive today! This is because their eggs can survive extended periods of drought then spring back to life again when water's added The photo of a T. cancriformis fossil below (from answersingenesis.org) shows what could well be my triops' great, great, great, great, great, great ect. grandma/pa - with the fossils dated at 200 million years old, these guys outlived the dinosaurs, survived and are still here on earth today and have hardly changed at all!

Thanks for feedback, though I don't think I can get a head shot close to the glass with the lens I used :-( but if I ever get a lens that can - then I will!