Prehistoric shrimp discovered after heavy rains in Arizona

Hundreds of weird-looking shrimp are among the prehistoric creatures that appeared in a mud pond following heavy rains in Arizona.

The strange-looking shrimp are officially called triops, which is Greek for three eyes.  They are also called dinosaur shrimp. They emerged from tiny eggs and look similar to trilobites and are sometimes called dinosaur shrimp.

The prehistoric creatures began swimming around and were discovered by a tourist who delivered them to a park ranger at the Wupatki National Monument, a preserve near Flagstaff where several Native American ruins and archeological sites are located.

The shrimp are similar to fossils from the Devonian period.  Their eggs can be dormant for decades in the desert until there is enough rainfall to create big enough lakes for  for their hatchings.

The creatures and have several positive attributes.  They eat mosquito larva which reduces the potential spread of the West Nile virus, and they eat weeds off of rice paddies in Japan. They also provide a prehistoric relic for children to observe.

Triops' appearances are so uncommon, that when tourists reported seeing them at a temporary, rain-filled lake within the monument's ceremonial ball cour, the monument's staff weren't sure what they were.

Lauren Carter, lead interpretation ranger at Wupatki National Monument, told Live Science,  "I just scooped it up with my hand and looked at it and was like 'What is that?' I had no idea," Carter said to Live Science. But then, she felt an inkling of familiarity; Carter had previously worked at Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona, and recalled reports of Triops there. "And then I had to look it up," she said.