Hermit crab shells instead, as shown by a specimen of "Palaeopagurus vandenengeli" from the Speeton Clay, Yorkshire, UK from the Lower Cretaceous. Hermit crab Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea. Most of the approximately 1,110 species possess an asymmetrical abdomen that is concealed in a scavenged mollusc shell carried around by the hermit crab. Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. The vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab, into which its whole body can retract. Most frequently,
Straight-billed hermit Straight-billed hermit The straight-billed hermit ("Phaethornis bourcieri") is a species of bird in the family Trochilidae, the hummingbirds. It is found in the Guyanas of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana; also the northern Amazon basin of Brazil, and Amazonian Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; it is in eastern Venezuela and the Orinoco River Basin. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Two subspecies are currently recognised: "P. b. bourcieri" and "P. b. major". However, recent molecular analysis has shown that "P. b. major" is more closely related to "Phaethornis philippii" and