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Feb 27, 2019 · Bizarre horseshoe crabs are actually spider relatives. The primordial ocean dwellers are squarely situated in the arachnid family tree, scientists claim in a new study. By Nadia Drake.
- 3 min
“By showing that horseshoe crabs are part of the arachnid radiation, instead of a lineage closely related to but independent of arachnids, all previous hypotheses on the evolution of arachnids need to be revised,” says Ballesteros, a postdoctoral researcher in Sharma’s lab. “It’s a major shift in our understanding of arthropod evolution.”
- They’re living fossils. These ocean critters predate the dinosaurs! The oldest known horseshoe crab species, (Lunataspis aurora) was discovered by scientists in 2008 and is estimated to be nearly 450 million years old.
- No, they’re not actually crabs. Horseshoe crabs are much more closely related to arachnids like spiders and ticks than true crabs. They’re part of the Subphylum Chelicerata and are further classified into Class Merostomata, which includes horseshoe crab species as well as eurypterids (sea scorpions).
- They’ve got legs near their mouth. While their primary sets of legs are used to help them move around, the pair of legs that’s closest to their mouth is actually a set of pincers, which they use to move food closer to their mouth and crush it up to be easier to consume.
- They’re not dangerous. While many people mistakenly associate these animals with rays or skates because of their shape, they’re actually not related and aren’t dangerous at all.
Feb 18, 2022 · Act of ‘Heresy’ Adds Horseshoe Crabs to Arachnid Family Tree. A team of researchers say that rather than occupying their own branch in the history of life on Earth, horseshoe crabs are...
Feb 28, 2019 · But horseshoe crabs aren't scary, they're just misunderstood. A new scientific study has created a definitive family tree for horseshoe crabs, showing that they're best classified as...
Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachnids such as spiders, ticks, and scorpions.
Mar 11, 2019 · Unlike classic arachnids, horseshoe crabs have ten legs and ten eyes (not eight and eight), plus light receptors on their spiky tails. They also have blood – and, ending a 140-year quarrel, turn out to be relatives of the spider after all, not the crab.
