罗马尼亚东部Cheia山谷发现1.5亿年前无腿螃蟹物种
侏罗纪时期无腿螃蟹的头部
据国外媒体10月22日报道，近日，科学家在罗马尼亚东部发现生活在侏罗纪时期的新螃蟹物种，这种体型不大的螃蟹十分奇特，与现今螃蟹物种不同的是它没有腿部，主要生活在深海暗礁裂缝中。
这些远古螃蟹物种的化石发现于罗马尼亚东部Cheia山谷，该山谷是100英尺高的圆柱环形岩石结构，这是由远古时期深海暗礁群形成的。这种螃蟹是生活在侏罗纪1.5亿年前的一种新物种螃蟹，当时地球上处于恐龙统治时代。这种没有腿的远古螃蟹现被命名为“Cycloprosopon dobrogea”，它扁平无腿的身体只有0.5英寸（6毫米）长，通常在暗礁裂缝旁生存。目前尚无法证实这种没有腿的螃蟹和其他类似的物种都是由甲壳类动物进化而来。
美国俄亥俄州肯特州立大学地质学家卡丽施韦策负责此项研究，她指出，它们很可能隐藏于海绵状暗礁的小裂缝之中，这种水下栖息环境被认为是远古甲壳类动物至关重要的生存环境，它们可以在这里寻觅美味的食物。
施韦策在接受《生活科学》网站记者采访时称，这种无腿小型螃蟹生活在非常深的海底暗礁之中，这一海底深度恐龙是无法到达的。但是像鱼龙或蛇颈龙仍可捕食到这种螃蟹。她强调指出，远古时期的海底甲壳类动物要远比科学家所想的更加复杂和丰富。
译文:
Discovery of Legless Crab Species of 150 Million Years Ago
Legless crab living 150 million years ago found in Cheia Valley in eastern Romania Head of legless crab living in Jerassic Age
It was reported on October 22 by some foreign media that scientists recently discovered a new crab species of Jurassic Age in eastern Romania. These small-sized crabs are peculiar in that they no legs and lived mainly in the cracks of deepwater reefs.
The fossils of this ancient species were found in the 100-feet-high Cheia Valley in eastern Romania whose cylindrical rock structure was originally ancient deepwater covers. This kind of crabs lived at the dinosaur-ruling Jurassic Age about 150 million years ago. Newly named Cycloprosopon Dobrogea, this legless flat-shaped species was 0.5 inch (6 millimeters) long and was usually sheltered in the cracks of reefs. It is not yet possible to prove that these legless crabs and other similar species evolved from shellfish.
Kelly Schweitzer, the geologist in Kent State University, Ohio, America and who is in charge of this research, pointed out that they probably hid in those small crevices of spongiform reefs, which underwater habitat is thought to be the vital environment for ancient shellfish where they could forage for delicious food.
In an interview with a journalist from National Science Foundation Website, Schweitzer claimed that these legless small-sized crabs lived in reefs far down in the sea where they were safe from dinosaurs although ichthyosaurs or aplesiosaurs could still catch them. She emphasized that ancient shellfish is far more sophisticated and abundant than imagined.