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Nature & Environment

Spiders evolved spare legs

By T.K. Randall
June 10, 2011 · Comment icon 16 comments

Image Credit: sxc.hu
New research has revealed that spiders actually have more legs than they need for everyday use.
Scientists examining a selection of spiders from around the world discovered that a lot of them were missing one or two of their legs. When studying their behaviour to determine if this was having a negative impact on their ability to function the researchers found that spiders with one or two missing limbs didn't seem to be having any problems at all.
Scientists may have uncovered why spiders are so creepy-crawly—they have more legs than they need, a new study says. After collecting thousands of female spiders in the wild, scientists found that more than 10 percent of the arachnids were missing at least one of their eight legs.


Source: National Geographic | Comments (16)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #7 Posted by :PsYKoTiC:BeHAvIoR: 13 years ago
I can't see evolution giving spare parts, but it would certainly won't slow down a creature who still have 7 or 6 legs left to roam around. But then again, I'm still convinced the Platypus was a result of a beaver/duck/snake orgy. Heh.
Comment icon #8 Posted by Swamptick 13 years ago
I'll bet the spiders disagree.
Comment icon #9 Posted by Parasitic_Kitworm 13 years ago
Ah man, you guys should click on the link that leads you to the article about the goliath bird-eating spiders. (World's Biggest Spider or something like that) It rustled my jimmies more than I could have ever imagined.
Comment icon #10 Posted by Great Big Sea 13 years ago
I can't get past the first post, cause of that picture of that Spider Hernibs put up. I kinda new that Spiders could go on perfectly well with two missing limbs as I've seen my cat eat a whole lot of them when she was younger. I think I might freak out if I learned that they can regrow more.
Comment icon #11 Posted by HerNibs 13 years ago
Ah man, you guys should click on the link that leads you to the article about the goliath bird-eating spiders. (World's Biggest Spider or something like that) It rustled my jimmies more than I could have ever imagined. this guy? Oh, he shows up in a lot of spider threads... I can't get past the first post, cause of that picture of that Spider Hernibs put up. I kinda new that Spiders could go on perfectly well with two missing limbs as I've seen my cat eat a whole lot of them when she was younger. I think I might freak out if I learned that they can regrow more. Always beware of the spider thre... [More]
Comment icon #12 Posted by queen.overthink 13 years ago
Always beware of the spider threads... Nibs Nibs, you really are messed up
Comment icon #13 Posted by HerNibs 13 years ago
Nibs, you really are messed up *sigh* Yeah, I know... Nibs
Comment icon #14 Posted by Device 13 years ago
Nature has given the spider more than what it needs. This is very generous.
Comment icon #15 Posted by Classified Document 13 years ago
Haha awsome... Nibs
Comment icon #16 Posted by nohands 13 years ago
maybe that's a tumor...


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