Former Natural History Museum (London) paleontologist Fortey gives us the stories of those plants, animals, and other creatures that have survived from Earth's early days--the planet's "true marathon runners."

Dual-layered text introduces the life cycle of the horseshoe crab, with a focus on the annual mass-spawning event at Delaware Bay.

A basic introduction to horseshoe crabs, discussing their physical characteristics, habitat, activities, and diet.

Describes the physical characteristics, habits, and life cycle of this ancient arthropod and discusses its importance to medical research.

Presents a portrait of the Delaware Bay in the spring when a wide variety of animals, including minnows, mice, turtles, raccons, and especially migrating shorebirds, come to feed on the billions of eggs laid by horseshoe crabs.

"Each year, red knots, sandpipers weighing no more than a coffee cup, fly a near-miraculous 19,000 miles from the tip of South America to their nesting grounds in the Arctic and back. Along the way, they double their weight by gorging on millions of tiny horseshoe crab eggs. Horseshoe crabs, ancient animals that come ashore but once a year, are vital to humans, too: their blue blood safeguards our health. Now, the rufa red knot, newly listed as threatened...