Tiny crustaceans living on California's beaches may be among the most powerful landscape-shapers on Earth, according to reporting by BBC Wildlife Magazine. The animals, known as sand hoppers, can each move more than ten times their own body weight in sand, the magazine reports.
Research covered by Phys.org describes the creatures as beach-dwelling crustaceans that play an outsized role in moving sediment along the California coast. According to The Economic Times, the shrimp-like animals shift roughly 110 pounds of sand per meter of beach every day. Ecomagazine.com reports that these sand hoppers rival rivers as forces that shape beaches, and Earth.com notes their sand movement is comparable to that of some California rivers.
The findings suggest that animals rarely noticed by beachgoers may collectively influence coastal geology on a scale usually associated with water and wind. Because the reports focus on California, it remains unclear how widely the pattern applies to other coastlines.
Further study could clarify how sand hopper activity interacts with tides, storms and human development along shorelines.
