Evolution is a tricky thing. It’s the term used to describe how different species adapt and change the world as time passes, but experts believe there’s a limit to how many can do so, and the number of times these creatures can actually change.
Their biggest question, however, is why crabs continue to evolve. This doesn’t just involve actual living crabs changing different parts of their body though, as they keep pushing out new kinds to add to the crab species. According to experts, these creatures have evolved at least five times.
A working theory as to why these crustaceans evolve way too many times compared to other species is that they’re not really a biological group or species.
As we know, crabs are decapods, animals with ten walking legs. This means that crabs are part of a collection of branches in the decapod tree, so not all of them look the same. Learn more about crabs and their evolutions here.
Image credit: Pixabay
Erm, this statement is a tad confused. Firstly, NOBODY has ever claimed that all crabs are a single species(!?) Secondly, the fact that crab-like forms have evolved in separate taxa IS the mystery.