An Existing Paradox – Whip-tailed Scorpion: It’s a Misidentification
In China's history, there are many legends about animals, most of which are based on common animals. Among them, Four-legged Beast is particularly special. It is a legendary creature in ancient myths and is also the mount of Jiang Ziya in the Romance of the Gods and Heroes. Its face is like a horse, its horns are like deer, its neck is like a camel, and its tail is like a donkey, hence its name, Four-legged Beast. In fact, the prototype of the Four-legged Beast is the elk, which is a common animal. However, there are also many animals in reality with appearances that are difficult to identify. To introduce one such animal – Whip-tailed Scorpion
As one of the Five Poisons, scorpion is a well-known creature. Its huge pincers and venomous tail stinger are definitely not to be trifled with. However, this creature that looks like a spider but also resembles a scorpion has been overlooked by many people. Whip-tailed Scorpion evolved from a small predator dating back 300 million years ago. It is generally distributed in tropical countries near the equator due to its scarcity and the fact that it lives in caves and only comes out at night to hunt. Therefore, it is rarely discovered by people. In fact, from its structure, the whip-tailed scorpion is closer to a spider. The biggest difference between spiders and scorpions is that their chest and abdomen are clearly separated. Scorpion's chest and abdomen are tightly connected. Therefore, the whip-tailed scorpion has the characteristics of a spider in terms of its body structure, but its front pincers and rear stingers are very similar to those of a scorpion.
Although the whip-tailed scorpion has many similarities with scorpions, their abilities and characteristics are completely different. Scorpions are high-level predators, they use venomous stingers to injure prey, making prey unable to move before feeding. The whip-tailed scorpion's characteristics are more towards defense. The glands at the end of its tail are not venomous, but when threatened, they will raise their tails and spray a mist of acetic acid to drive away predators. Whip-tailed scorpion's front pincers are not as large as those of scorpions, but they are covered with needles, which can fix and tear the prey's body when capturing prey. Therefore, the whip-tailed scorpion can still capture venomous creatures such as venomous spiders, scorpions, and ( -). Because it has lived in caves and mostly hunts at night, the whip-tailed scorpion is almost blind. Therefore, the first pair of walking feet of the whip-tailed scorpion has evolved into probes, only using the six feet at the back to walk. When moving forward and exploring, they will sway the first pair of walking feet to detect the terrain, shaking like pulling a whip, which is also the origin of its name, Whip-tailed Scorpion. Whip-tailed Scorpion is almost blind and sometimes cannot easily capture prey like scorpions. Wild whip-tailed scorpions are often in a state of hunger, and when they are hungry, whip-tailed scorpions are extremely aggressive and will even fight with other members of the same species to swallow them.
Many scientists are surprised that this creature has been able to survive on Earth for 300 million years, because most creatures that can survive for a long time have excellent hunting abilities. However, the whip-tailed scorpion does not have these qualities. Scientists believe that although the whip-tailed scorpion does not have venom and strong hunting ability, it has imitated the appearance of scorpions with a high degree of fidelity, which makes most insects' enemies dare not approach it. Therefore, its survival environment is essentially without enemies. The main reason for the scarcity of whip-tailed scorpions today is mainly due to the changes and pollution in the environment today.
