Mantis Shrimp Larva

Photograph by David Liittschwager, National Geographic

This mantis shrimp larva appears a bit insubstantial. But when grown the crustacean can deliver what might be, pound for pound, the animal kingdom’s most powerful smackdown. The shrimp can unleash its hammer-shaped front leg at an incredible speed of 75 feet (23 meters) a second to generate forces more than a hundred times its own body weight and splinter the shells of snails and other prey.