Terrestrial crustaceans

The humid and warm world of the Allocene favoured the evolution of aquatic organisms into land ecosystems. All over the world many species of terrestrial crabs (not related and thus with not common ancestry) appeared, ranging from mangroves to rainforest canopy and floor, deep into continental land. Several of these species evolved inteligent and fantastic adaptative strategies in order to survive in such new and exotic world.
1- Common species of tree-dwelling crab from the European rainforests.
2- Long-legged crab with defensive spines as protection against predators.
3- Species of crab with remarkably long eye-stalks used during courtship rituals.

During early Allocene, a new island chain appeared in the middle of the Indian Ocean as consequence of the subduction of the recently formed western Subafrican plate under the Indoaustralian plate. In these islands some species of shrimps managed to take the niche of terrestrial crabs, and established the new family Unicornicaridae. Representatives of this family are remarkable for having long and powerful ambulatory legs, hyperthrophied cephalotorax, long rostrum (hence their name) and two great feather-like uropods, used during intraspecific contact (specially at courtship ritual)
4- Unicorn land shrimp (Unicornicaris vulgaris)
"5-" Peacock shrimp (Not drawn yet :s)