Dumb

Since I'm studying Biodiversity now, I shall introduce you to an animal which I think is the dumbest in the world. It is a barnacle. It is actually a crustacean, related to crabs, and not a shellfish even though it looks like one. It has a complex life cycle which is shown below.

It starts out as a Nauplius larvae which has all the features of a crustacean. At this stage, it spends its time as part of the zooplankton in the sea, floating wherever the wind, waves currents, and tides may take it, whilst eating and molting. This lasts for about two weeks. At the second stage, the nauplius metamorphoses into a non-feeding, more strongly swimming cyprid larva. The cyprids settle down in an area where environmental cues indicate a safe and productive environment.

This is where I think the barnacle is really stupid. When an appropriate place is found, the cyprid larva cements itself headfirst to the surface and then undergoes metamorphosis into a juvenile barnacle. Typical barnacles develop six hard armour plates to surround and protect their bodies. For the rest of their lives they are cemented to the ground, using their feathery legs to capture plankton and gametes when spawning.

Can you imagine yourself doing the same thing? Going down head first and cementing yourself to a spot for the rest of your life and using only your feet to capture food?

However, God is fair. It is seriously stupid but it is compensated by having the longest penis to body length ratio in the animal kingdom.