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She was first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, but Amelia Earhart's disappearance in July 1937 has remained a mystery since her plane went down over the central Pacific Ocean.

Now historians have conducted a bizarre experiment to explore the theory that the aviator's remains were carried away by giant coconut crabs and scattered in their burrows.

Forensic anthropologists left a pig's carcass on a beach on the island of Nikumaroro - part of the Phoenix Islands in the Republic of Kiribati - to investigate whether Birgus latro, the largest land-dwelling arthropod in the world, would drag the remains away.

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A team of scientists set up an experiment involving a pig's carcass to explore whether coconut crabs are capable of breaking up bones and hiding them in their burrows - as is alleged to have happened to the skeleton of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in July 1937

The carnivorous crabs can weigh up to 9lbs (4kg) and have large claws with which to crack open coconuts.

They are found in the area where Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan are thought to have disappeared during their bid to circumnavigate the globe.

The duo took off from Lae, New Guinea, and were flying towards Howland Island when their plane crashed.

Many experts agree that the wreckage lies beneath the waves near Nikumaroro - known at the time as Gardner Island - which is around 350miles (564km) southeast of the pair's planned destination.

Three years after the plane disappeared, British colonial officer Gerard Gallagher discovered parts of a skeleton along with a sextant box on Gardner Island.

While the skeletal remains have now been lost, measurements were taken at the time that indicate they belonged to a tall male – perhaps Mr Noonan – while a more recent analysis has suggested they many have belonged to a tall European woman, which would fit Ms Earhart's description.

Circumstantial evidence - including the make of the sextant, a pot of ointment and a rubber shoe made in the 1930s - points to the final resting place of the aviators. But there is nothing to prove that the remains are theirs as bone fragments tested for DNA were inconclusive.

Experts might have hit a brick wall with the identity of the remains for now but they are trying to piece together another part of the mystery – that bones might have been scattered by the crabs.

When officer Gallagher found the bones, he reported that parts of the skull, including teeth, limbs and ribs seem to have been broken off.

Forensic anthropologist Karen Ramey Burns placed a pig carcass on the beach where the two aviators could have trodden and filmed what happened to investigate whether crabs stripped the carcass and hid the bones. Coloured string was connected to surgical screws in major bones (pictured) to make it easily visible if the bones were carried away

Pioneer: Amelia Earhart (pictured) was a U.S. aviation pioneer born on July 24 1987, who disappeared on July 2 1937. She was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic but her Lockheed Model 10 Electra plane went down during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe

Piggy remains: The scientists discovered that strawberry hermit crabs and larger coconut crabs enthusiastically stripped the pig carcass with their sharp claws but critically, the coconut crabs did not try to make off with a meal. The remnants after 12 days (and some human intervention) are pictured

Gardner Island: Three years after the plane and the pilots disappeared British colonial officer Gerard Gallagher discovered parts of a skeleton along with a sextant box on Gardner Island (mapped) suggesting Ms Earhart had perished upon the land

The story goes that coconut crabs dismembered the bodies and carried off the bones into their underground burrows.

Mr Gallagher wrote in his report: 'All small bones have been removed by giant coconut crabs which have also damaged larger ones. Difficult to estimate age bones owing to activities of crabs but am quite certain they are not less than four years old and probably much older,' iO9 reported.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (Tighar), which is intent on recovering Ms Earhart's lost aircraft and unravelling the mystery of her death, conducted an experiment to find out whether the behaviour of the crabs was likely.

Forensic anthropologist Karen Ramey Burns placed a pig carcass on a beach on the island and filmed what happened over 12 days.

Coloured string was connected to surgical screws in major bones to make it easy to see if the bones were carried off and hidden.

She discovered that strawberry hermit crabs and larger coconut crabs enthusiastically stripped the carcass with their sharp claws but critically, the coconut crabs did not try to make off with a meal.

The only crustacean that did drag bones away was a solitary land crab.

So the mystery continues as the experts cannot confirm whether Gallagher's crab hypothesis was correct or not.

Richard Gillespie, executive director of Tighar told MailOnline: 'There's still a chance that the missing bones were carried off by crabs. Something removed the entire spinal column and rib cage, half of the pelvis and some of the long bones.

'The giant coconut crabs are still the most likely suspects. Our experiment was conducted on a part of the island that was once inhabited and we've found that the crabs there are not nearly as aggressive as the crabs at the other end of the island at the place where the castaway died.'

 

Giant crabs vs pig carcass: decay experiment by TIGHAR

Analysis: The team of experts hopes to head back to the island in September, to comb the ocean for the wreckage of the plane. A 30-day expedition is planned aboard a research ship that could use two manned submarines with HD video to search the sea floor for the wreckage, around 3,280ft (1,000metres) below the waves. A surveyed area and sites of interest are marked on this map

Discovery: Circumstantial evidence including the make of the sextant, a pot of ointment (pictured) and a rubber shoe made in the 1930s, points to the final resting place of the aviators as Gardner Island, there is nothing to prove that the remains that were discovered are theirs as bone fragments tested for DNA were inconclusive

'What we learned from the experiment is that the crabs lose interest in the bones once the meat is gone and the intense tropical sunlight has dried them out.

'The number of bones remaining of the partial skeleton discovered in 1940 is probably not an indicator of how long the castaway had been dead but rather an indicator of how much of the body was consumed or carried off before the bones became too dry to be of interest to the scavengers.

'The consequences for a person immobilised by illness or injury are too horrible to contemplate.'

It is possible that colonists who settled on the island before the remains were discovered by Mr Gallagher had dogs, which scattered the remains – but there is no mention of dogs on the island.

Blacktip sharks and hungry Polynesian rats could also have been responsible for attacking the bodies.

And there is one last particularly macabre possibility to explain the scarring of the bones.

Mr Gillespie said: 'Let's say that both Earhart and Noonan survived [the landing], but were starving to death, and one of them died—Amelia died.

'Maybe Noonan resorted to cannibalism and that's why the body is portioned the way it is. Total speculation, but it's happened before.'

The team of experts hopes to head back to the island in September, to comb the ocean for the wreckage of the plane.

A 30-day expedition is planned aboard a research ship that could use two manned submarines with HD video to search the sea floor for the wreckage, around 3,280ft (1,000metres) below the waves.

They will base their search on what is known as the Bevington Photo, which was taken in October 1937 by British Colonial Service officer Eric Bevington and appears to show the wreckage of one of the aircraft's main landing gear assemblies on the reef edge of the island.

 

Giant Coconut Crabs taking bones away from a carcass

Without a trace: An hour after Ms Earhart's last broadcast, the Itasca ship began a search to the north and west of the island and was joined by the U.S. Navy. No physical evidence of Ms Earhart (pictured), Mr Noonan or the Electra 10E was found.

Mr Gillespie told MailOnline: 'I think the chances of finding identifiable wreckage from the aircraft are excellent if or when we return in September. 

'We know where to look and after much trial and error, we have the right technology. We have a promising sonar target to investigate and several known man-made objects to re-locate and inspect.'

To solve the mystery, the scientists need either DNA-matched remains or identifiable pieces of the airplane.

'DNA survives best in dark, cold environments and Nikumaroro does not do cold and dark. Aluminium, on the other hand, survives very well underwater and we have abundant evidence to suggest that the remains of the plane rest in the deep water off the west end of the island.  We think we can find it,' he added.
Creepy and carnivorous: A report by an investigator suggests that coconut crabs (pictured) dismembered the bodies of the aviators and carried off the bones into their underground burrows. Mr Gallagher wrote in his report: 'All small bones have been removed by giant coconut crabs which have also damaged larger one'