Why does spiders have eight legs

Spider legs are modified appendages from an ancestor that had many more pairs of legs, but most of the legs of spiders got modified into other things. There probably isn't any particular reason why spiders evolved to have eight, insects six, horseshoe crabs ten, or any other number for the jointed-legged animals. It's just one of those happenstances that evolution does some times.

Answer 1: Why do spiders have eight legs? Here's another answer: things like spiders evolved with lots of legs, so they can still get around if a leg or 2 are pulled off: Spiders Evolved Spare Legs That's an idea that makes sense and has some evidence to support it. Answer 2: As scientists we can come up with some reasons for why an organism evolved a certain way, but we can never know for sure.

Answer 3: What a cool question, Samantha. Answer 4: Spider legs are modified appendages from an ancestor that had many more pairs of legs, but most of the legs of spiders got modified into other things. Click Here to return to the search form. Available On Air Stations. All Streams. Jane Lindholm. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email. Sean McCann. Tags Programs But Why.

Melody Bodette. See stories by Melody Bodette. She also produces special projects for the station. See stories by Jane Lindholm. Related Content. For 20 years, brothers Chris and Martin Kratt have been taking kids on adventures around the world through their TV shows, including Wild Kratts,…. Why do bees pollinate? How do bees make honey? Why do bees have stingers? These front pair of legs are referred to pedipalps or just palps for short.

Spiders have special glands that secrete proteins that make up the web. There are many different types of web or silk that spiders can make; these include silk for: prey capturing, prey detection, burrow lining, egg sacs, and prey wrapping. Spiders use different types of web in the construction of a web. There are is the web that acts as girders; this web is very strong and is not sticky.

Then there is the web that actually captures the prey; this web is very sticky. Depending on the species of spider and the type of web, it can be up to 5 times as strong as steel and it can be more elastic than nylon. Check out Randy Lewis' research on spider silk. He is one of the world experts in spider silk and he is right here at the University of Wyoming! We know that vertabrates animals with an internal skeleton , like humans and lizards, grow when their bones grow.

Muscles and organs grow with the skeleton.