How were they discovered?

Crab-Bats were first discovered in the mountains outside of Brazil by explorer Fredrico Van Spluphetermer in 1673, who was originally searching for a more convenient trade route to trade sheep testicles with vendors in the major cities. Van Spluphetermer happened upon a small colony of the peculiar, side-flying creatures when he traveled off his designated path in order to replenish his water supply…what he found was so much more! After admiring his new discovery, Van Spluphetermer decided to set up camp. Unbeknownst to him, destiny was waiting for night fall. Van Spluphetermer awoke only to find himself covered from head to toe with scurrying crab-bats. He attempted free himself, but the grip of their claws proved to be too powerful. Suddenly, Van Spluphetermer was lifted into the air, flying side-ways at a projected speed of up to forty knots. When the crab-bats finally touched ground, Van Spluphetermer found himself in a valley with thousands of crab-bats flying and crawling all around him. Van Spluphetermer was delighted with his amazing discovery and was eager to share his findings with his countrymen. He collected several of the astonishing creatures, both for food and show and began to make his way back toward civilization. Though he may not have known it at the time, Van Spluphetermer’s unique finding may have changed the course modern zoology forever.

Unfortunately, the modern discovery of bat-crabs is a much darker and more sinister story. In 1804 a small group of Jesuit missionaries were traveling through the mountains of Brazil with the hopes of reaching Portugal. They never made their destination. Out of worry, and some may say pride, the Brazilian government sent in troops in search of the missionaries. What they found was a gruesome reminder of man’s place in the animal kingdom. The missionaries had been torn limb from limb. Their bodies were mangled and appeared to have claw marks all over them. When the troops finally encountered the culprits they could not believe their eyes. The bat-crabs engulfed the troops. Only two survived, maimed and terrified. One soldier reported, “They came from the side. Always from the side.” The other was too traumatized to speak of the events that happened that day. All he could say was that he “still heard the clicking of their claws.”