How many legs do ants have? The answer to the question is obvious: like all representatives of the insect class, six. Moreover, the number of legs is one of the signs of this taxonomic unit of the arthropod type of the animal kingdom.
Ant is a very common insect. According to experts, the total mass of the Earth's ants is from ten to twenty percent of the total biomass (the mass of all living beings, including plants and microorganisms) of the planet. True, it is interesting: how accurate are the calculations of biologists? And in general, is there a method that allows you to calculate the mass of a particular species, genus, order or class of animals? Most likely, the calculation error will be quite significant.
Ants separated from insects into an independent family a very long time ago. The first individuals were recorded by paleontologists in the heyday of the reign of dinosaurs - about one hundred and seventy million years ago. The first ants were primitivestructure (compared to modern ants). Today, two species of ants have survived, almost unchanged since that time. These are the so-called "living fossils". The first one was found in Australia in 1931 (dinosaur ant), and the second one was discovered in Brazil just five years ago. How many legs did ants have when dinosaurs roamed the planet? Scientists are unanimous: six! Since that time, this has been the fundamental difference between insects and arthropods of other classes.
Arthropods, including a number of both terrestrial and marine animals, are divided into a large number of genera. The exact number is unknown, as discoveries happen regularly. Therefore, even experts find it difficult to answer - how much. There are always six legs of insects, so it is easy to guess that, for example, spiders are not among them. If you have not been interested until now, then on occasion count his legs. There will be eight of them. Spiders, like insects, belong to the type of arthropods, they stand out in it in a separate family of arachnids. This family also includes a class of well-known ticks. Yes, they also have eight legs. Including the encephalitic tick, which should be feared when visiting the northern and Siberian forests.
It would seem that all this is not difficult, and therefore it is well remembered. However, often when studying biology at school, before the question of how many legs ants have, not too attentive students fall into a stupor. It would seem that you see these insects almost every day, but somehow you didn’t bother to count your legs.
Ant's three-joint legs are extremely strong. According to biologists, our ordinary red wood ant is able to carry a weight twenty times its own. If the ratio of leg strength and body weight in a person would be the same as in an ant, he could run at the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse. Each of the ant legs has three joints. The upper part is the thigh, lower is the lower leg, and at the junction there is a spur. The lowest part of the ant's leg is called the paw. At the end of the foot is the so-called claw.
Sometimes scientists doubt to which class or order to attribute this or that representative of arthropods. And although the taxonomy of flora and fauna is a more or less settled thing, disputes among biologists do not subside to this day. Oddly enough, new species of invertebrates are discovered every year, although it would seem that the planet has been explored up and down! And although the question of how many legs ants have is not a relevant one, it is quite possible that the opinion of biologists regarding the place and role of these representatives of collective insects in the evolution of life on Earth will be updated and refined as our knowledge of the planet increases.
