Ancient Survivors in a Shifting World: Climate and Geology Shape the Fate of Asian Horseshoe Crabs

Horseshoe crabs—ancient marine arthropods often referred to as “living fossils”—have endured relatively unchanged for over 400 million years [2,3]. Yet today, three of the four extant species, all native to Asia, are increasingly threatened by climate change and human activity. In a comprehensive study, Tang et al. [4] combined genomic, geographical, and environmental data to investigate the evolutionary history, population structures, and climate vulnerability of Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, Tachypleus gigas, and T. tridentatus.