Tadpole-size creatures, called Triops emerge after Arizona monsoon

[Debra]

Wow! I wonder what the next surprise to burst out of the Earth will be??​

Hundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoon​

By Laura Geggel
October 6, 2021
Their eggs can stay dormant for decades, waiting for water.

One of the triops — a small, three-eyed crustacean — from the ball court pond at Wupatki National Monument in Arizona. (Image credit: L.Carter/NPS)

Following a torrential summer downpour in northern Arizona, hundreds of bizarre, prehistoric-looking critters emerged from tiny eggs and began swimming around a temporary lake on the desert landscape, according to officials at Wupatki National Monument.

These tadpole-size creatures, called Triops "look like little mini-horseshoe crabs with three eyes," Lauren Carter, lead interpretation ranger at Wupatki National Monument, told Live Science. Their eggs can lie dormant for decades in the desert until enough rainfall falls to create lakes that provide real estate and time for the hatchlings to mature and lay eggs for the next generation, according to Central Michigan University.
Triops' appearances are so uncommon, that when tourists reported seeing them at a temporary, rain-filled lake within the monument's ceremonial ball court — a circular walled structure 105 feet (32 meters) across — the monument's staff weren't sure what to make of the critters.[...]

Hundreds of three-eyed 'dinosaur shrimp' emerge after Arizona monsoon

Their eggs can stay dormant for decades, waiting for water.

www.livescience.com